Premium
Modeling scale formation in flat‐sheet membrane modules during water desalination
Author(s) -
Kostoglou Margaritis,
Karabelas Anastasios J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.14045
Subject(s) - mesoscopic physics , desalination , scaling , membrane , scale (ratio) , fouling , biological system , mechanics , chemistry , biochemical engineering , engineering , physics , mathematics , geometry , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , biology
Modeling the operation of spiral‐wound membrane modules is essential for their successful design and optimization. Such models must include the main types of membrane fouling, degrading desalination plant performance, including scaling due to sparingly soluble salts. Unfortunately, the complexity of underlying physicochemical processes and the coexistence of several spatial and temporal scales render intractable modeling of membrane scaling based on first principles. Therefore, a suitable (albeit simplified) framework is developed for incorporating scaling dynamics into a fluid flow model formulated at an intermediate (i.e., mesoscopic) length scale of membrane operation. The general mesoscopic approach involves integration of spatially distributed submodels, thereby allowing predictions at the large (entire membrane sheet) scale; these submodels comprise constitutive laws and kinetic rate expressions derived at fine scales. A submodel for the effect of pre‐existing bulk particles on scale formation is developed herein. Several numerical results are presented to exemplify the potential of the proposed framework. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 59: 2917–2927, 2013