Acessibilidade / Reportar erro
Fluid Dynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer • Braz. J. Chem. Eng. 36 (3) • Jul-Sep 2019 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-6632.20190363s20180531   copy

MODELING AND SIMULATION OF A VACUUM MEMBRANE DISTILLATION PLANT COUPLED WITH SOLAR ENERGY AND USING HELICAL HOLLOW FIBERS

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of operating conditions such as coil pitch, fiber diameter, distance between fiber and absorber internal wall and absorber diameter for a vacuum membrane installation coupled with solar energy and using helically coiled fiber to maximize the permeate flow rate. The model is based on a system of equations composed of two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. Matlab and FemLab were used to solve this system of equations. The results showed that the best values of fiber geometric configuration are 3.22 cm for the coil pitch, 6 mm for the fiber diameter, 4.3 mm for the distance between the fiber and the absorber internal wall and 14 cm for the absorber diameter. For this configuration, the permeate flow rate is 18.6 10-5 kg/s. In conclusion, these results are important in the membrane module design for practical membrane distillation applications.

Keywords:
Vacuum membrane distillation; Helical fiber; Solar energy; Heat and mass transfer; Simulation

Brazilian Society of Chemical Engineering Rua Líbero Badaró, 152 , 11. and., 01008-903 São Paulo SP Brazil, Tel.: +55 11 3107-8747, Fax.: +55 11 3104-4649, Fax: +55 11 3104-4649 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: rgiudici@usp.br
Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS