Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of the Resistivity and Power Density in Reverse Electrodialysis: A Parametric Study.
MEMBRANES 2020;
10:E209. [PMID:
32872394 PMCID:
PMC7558600 DOI:
10.3390/membranes10090209]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 08/21/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Electrodialysis (ED) and reverse electrodialysis (RED) are enabling technologies which can facilitate renewable energy generation, dynamic energy storage, and hydrogen production from low-grade waste heat. This paper presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study for maximizing the net produced power density of RED by coupling the Navier-Stokes and Nernst-Planck equations, using the OpenFOAM software. The relative influences of several parameters, such as flow velocities, membrane topology (i.e., flat or spacer-filled channels with different surface corrugation geometries), and temperature, on the resistivity, electrical potential, and power density are addressed by applying a factorial design and a parametric study. The results demonstrate that temperature is the most influential parameter on the net produced power density, resulting in a 43% increase in the net peak power density compared to the base case, for cylindrical corrugated channels.
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