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Experimental and Numerical Simulation to Investigate the Effects of Membrane Fouling on the Heat and Mass Transfer

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Abstract

Nanoporous tubular ceramic membranes (TCMs) are commonly used to extract water vapor and to recover latent heat from flue gas in thermal power plants. Water vapor condenses on the surface of the outer wall of the TCM, and the generated condensate permeates the membrane and flows along with the coolant water within the membrane. With time and use, fouling cakes will gradually accumulate and adhere on the inner surface of the membrane wall because of different kinds of soluble salts in the coolant water, which have negative effects on the water recovery performance of the membrane. This paper describes experiments to analyze the effect of membrane use times (0 h, 400 h and 800 h) on fouling cakes. The water recovery performance of the membrane with different use times is investigated experimentally and numerically using the commercial software FLUENT 14.5. Lastly, we evaluate the significance of multiple operational conditions on the water recovery process of ceramic membranes by using an ANOVA based on both the experimental and numerical results. The results showed that the water recovery rate of the membrane decreased by a maximum of 76.3 % when its use time reached 800 h. Furthermore, the original water vapor content of the gas plays a more critical role on the water recovery process compared to other operational parameters.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area of cells in the near-wall region (m2)

V :

Volume of cells in the near-wall region (m3)

P :

Static pressure (Pa)

T :

Temperature (K)

r :

Radius (m)

U :

velocity magnitude (m·s−1)

D :

Diffusion coefficient (m2·s−1)

S :

Source term

l :

Length of the ceramic tube (m)

t :

Time step (s)

Δt :

Using time (h)

M :

Mass content (kg)

m :

Mass flux (kg·m−2·s−1)

Kn :

Kuhn number

h :

Convective heat transfer coefficient (W·m−2·K−1)

q :

Heat flux (kJ·m−2·s−1)

x :

Distance along the ceramic tube (mm)

k B :

Boltzmann constant

k 0 :

Permeability coefficient

W :

Mass fraction

mass :

Continuity equation

m :

Membrane

vap :

Vapor

non :

Noncondensable gas

sat :

Saturated state of flow

species :

Species conversation equation

enr :

Energy conversation equation

rec :

Water recovery

a :

Average

b :

Bulk

c :

Coolant water

f :

Fouling cake

wall :

Near-wall region

0:

Original state

ρ :

Density (kg·m−3)

τ :

Tortuosity of pores

γ :

Latent heat (kJ·kg−1)

ε :

Dissipation rate

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy

λ :

Thermal conductivity (W·m−1·K−1)

µ :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa·s−1)

σ :

Characteristic size of the gas mixture (nm)

Φ :

Porosity

f :

Friction factor for ceramic tubes

δ :

Diffusion layer thickness

φ :

Suction effect coefficient

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Funding

The authors are grateful for the supports of “Nation Key R&D Program of China” (Grant No. 2018YFB0604302).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, National Thermal Power Engineering and Technology Research Center, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Boran Yang, Haiping Chen, Chao Ye, Xiangsheng Li & Yijun Feng

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  1. Boran Yang
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  2. Haiping Chen
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  3. Chao Ye
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  4. Xiangsheng Li
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  5. Yijun Feng
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Correspondence to Boran Yang.

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Yang, B., Chen, H., Ye, C. et al. Experimental and Numerical Simulation to Investigate the Effects of Membrane Fouling on the Heat and Mass Transfer. Int J Thermophys 40, 8 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-018-2471-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-018-2471-3

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