The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Reed, Elizabeth Anne, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Other Authors: Steven Dubowsky.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74940
_version_ 1826206898687311872
author Reed, Elizabeth Anne, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author2 Steven Dubowsky.
author_facet Steven Dubowsky.
Reed, Elizabeth Anne, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author_sort Reed, Elizabeth Anne, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
collection MIT
description Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T13:40:22Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/74940
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language eng
last_indexed 2024-09-23T13:40:22Z
publishDate 2012
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/749402019-04-11T08:16:29Z The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation Reed, Elizabeth Anne, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Steven Dubowsky. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-86). The purpose of this thesis is to design and validate a controllable energy recovery device with application to photovoltaic powered reverse osmosis (PVRO). The energy consumption of a reverse osmosis plant depends significantly on the efficiency of its energy recovery process. This work presents a concept for a controllable energy recovery process, so that a system can operate optimally based on the incoming water and power characteristics. The design presented here uses a variable nozzle and a Pelton wheel to recover energy from the high pressure concentrated brine exiting the reverse osmosis membrane. The components are designed, analytically modeled using fundamental engineering principles, and experimentally tested. The experimental data is then used to check the validity of the formulated concept models. This research encompasses the modeling and testing of a variable nozzle using a needle valve to control the flow through the nozzle, and also of a Pelton bucket, to examine the effectiveness of the momentum transfer from a high velocity jet to the Pelton wheel. This research is done to examine the feasibility of this concept for potential implementation on a full scale PVRO system. The component validation is performed to prove that the concept is effective and competitive with other options. by Elizabeth Anne Reed. S.M. 2012-11-19T19:20:16Z 2012-11-19T19:20:16Z 2012 2012 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74940 815964196 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 96 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Reed, Elizabeth Anne, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation
title The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation
title_full The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation
title_fullStr The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation
title_full_unstemmed The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation
title_short The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation
title_sort design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74940
work_keys_str_mv AT reedelizabethannesmmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology thedesignofacontrollableenergyrecoverydeviceforsolarpoweredreverseosmosisdesalinationwithexperimentalvalidation
AT reedelizabethannesmmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology designofacontrollableenergyrecoverydeviceforsolarpoweredreverseosmosisdesalinationwithexperimentalvalidation