Submitting Campus

Daytona Beach

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Document Type

Article

Publication/Presentation Date

3-11-2019

Abstract/Description

Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) is a process that has shown promise within the field of desalination due to its less energy intensive methods and widespread applications. DCMD is a thermally driven microfiltration separation process that operates on the principle of vapor–liquid equilibrium conditions where heat and mass transfer occur simultaneously. Fundamentally, DCMD is based on a porous hydrophobic membrane separating the hot solution (feed) from the cold solution (permeate) where desalinated water condenses. The membrane interfacial temperatures determine the vapor pressure difference across the membrane. In this work, a direct simulation Monte Carlo analysis is employed to investigate how the exergy of the system relates to some key thermal properties, namely, the temperature polarization coefficient (TPC) and the thermal efficiency (TE), as other parameters are changed, such as feed temperature, flow speed, and membrane porosity. Through molecular simulation, phase equilibrium is reached by calculating the chemical potential at the membrane interface and the entropy of the system is found. Since exergy is a function of entropy, enthalpy, and temperature, the amount of useful work is calculated. Finally, exergy is compared to the TPC and TE as the flowrate and porosity are varied. We demonstrate that with these exergy calculations, the information about the thermal relationship between microscopic and macroscopic parameters will improve future experimental work.

Publication Title

ASME Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4045748

Publisher

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Additional Information

Dr. Chen was not affiliated with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at the time this paper was published.

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