Designing Better Membrane Modules Using CFD
-
Bahram Haddadi Sisakht
,
Christian Jordan
Abstract
In the last decades, a large number of studies have been carried out on the utilization of membranes in separation processes. However, most of these studies deal with material properties, experimental investigations and process modeling. Only quite a few authors utilized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze the flow and mass transfer in membrane modules. Using CFD it is possible to obtain spatially resolved information on the behavior of membrane modules, allowing for the investigation of geometric effects on the performance of the module. This includes e. g. the positioning of the permeate outlets, the flow alignment (co- and/or counter-current), the use of spacers and other mixing promoters and also the subject of concentration polarization close to the membrane surface. In our present study we made use of OpenFOAM®, which is a free open sourced CFD toolbox. The toolbox enables for introducing new solver code, membraneFoam, based on the standard multicomponent solver reactingFoam. In membraneFoam suitable source and sink terms have been added to account for trans-membrane flux – in this case based on the solution-diffusion model for glassy polymer gas permeation membranes. The solver has been preliminary validated using literature data obtained from a process simulation code. In a first stage of the research work the positioning of the permeate outlet and the flow alignment have been investigated for a hollow fiber gas permeation module. By adjusting the position of the permeate outlet the shell side flow can be co-current, counter-current or mixed type relative to the retentate flow inside the fibers. Since this influences the driving force for the trans-membrane flux, effects on the module performance are expected which have been analyzed using the described membraneFoam CFD approach.
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©2016 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial Note
- Editorial Special Issue: Selected Extended Papers from the 12th International Conference on Membrane Science and Technology (MST2015) Symposium on Modeling and Simulation
- Research Articles
- Molecular Perspective of Radionuclides Separation by Nanoporous Graphene Oxide Membrane
- Mathematical Modeling and Investigation on the Temperature and Pressure Dependency of Permeation and Membrane Separation Performance for Natural gas Treatment
- Mathematical Modeling of Natural Gas Separation Using Hollow Fiber Membrane Modules by Application of Finite Element Method through Statistical Analysis
- Modelling Study of Palladium Membrane Reactor Performance during Methan Steam Reforming using CFD Method
- Performance Investigation of Membrane Process in Natural Gas sweeting by Membrane Process: Modeling Study
- Gas Separation in Nanoporous Graphene from Molecular Dynamics Simulation
- The Effect of Module Geometry on Heat and Mass Transfer in Membrane Distillation
- Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of the Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD) Process
- Multi-objective Optimization of Preparation Conditions of Asymmetric Polyetherimide Membrane for Prevaporation of Isopropanol
- Investigation of Palladium Membrane Reactor Performance during Ethanol Steam Reforming using CFD Method
- Designing Better Membrane Modules Using CFD
- Simulation of Membrane Gas Separation Process Using Aspen Plus® V8.6
- Numerical Simulation of Salt Water Passing Mechanism Through Nanoporous Single-Layer Graphene Membrane
- Facilitated Transport of Propylene Through Composite Polymer-Ionic Liquid Membranes. Mass Transfer Analysis
- CFD Simulation of Hydrogen Separation in Pd Hollow Fiber Membrane
- Numerical Study on Concentration Polarization for H2-N2 Separation through a Thin Pd Membrane by Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial Note
- Editorial Special Issue: Selected Extended Papers from the 12th International Conference on Membrane Science and Technology (MST2015) Symposium on Modeling and Simulation
- Research Articles
- Molecular Perspective of Radionuclides Separation by Nanoporous Graphene Oxide Membrane
- Mathematical Modeling and Investigation on the Temperature and Pressure Dependency of Permeation and Membrane Separation Performance for Natural gas Treatment
- Mathematical Modeling of Natural Gas Separation Using Hollow Fiber Membrane Modules by Application of Finite Element Method through Statistical Analysis
- Modelling Study of Palladium Membrane Reactor Performance during Methan Steam Reforming using CFD Method
- Performance Investigation of Membrane Process in Natural Gas sweeting by Membrane Process: Modeling Study
- Gas Separation in Nanoporous Graphene from Molecular Dynamics Simulation
- The Effect of Module Geometry on Heat and Mass Transfer in Membrane Distillation
- Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of the Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD) Process
- Multi-objective Optimization of Preparation Conditions of Asymmetric Polyetherimide Membrane for Prevaporation of Isopropanol
- Investigation of Palladium Membrane Reactor Performance during Ethanol Steam Reforming using CFD Method
- Designing Better Membrane Modules Using CFD
- Simulation of Membrane Gas Separation Process Using Aspen Plus® V8.6
- Numerical Simulation of Salt Water Passing Mechanism Through Nanoporous Single-Layer Graphene Membrane
- Facilitated Transport of Propylene Through Composite Polymer-Ionic Liquid Membranes. Mass Transfer Analysis
- CFD Simulation of Hydrogen Separation in Pd Hollow Fiber Membrane
- Numerical Study on Concentration Polarization for H2-N2 Separation through a Thin Pd Membrane by Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
