The cost effectiveness of electrodialysis for diverse salinity applications

We provide a thermoeconomic assessment of electrodialysis indicating that the technology is most productive and efficient for the partial desalination of feed streams at the higher end of the brackish range of salinities. After optimising the current density to minimise the sum of energy and equipment costs, we demonstrate that at low feed salinities the productivity, and hence equipment costs, of electrodialysis are hampered by the limiting current density. By contrast, at higher feed salinities both productivity and efficiency are hampered by the reduced chemical potential difference of salt in the diluate (low salinity) and concentrate (high salinity) streams. This analysis indicates the promise of further developing electrodialysis for the treatment of waters from oil, gas and coal-bed methane as well as flue-gas de-sulphurisation, where the partial desalination of streams at the high-end of the brackish range can be beneficial.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUPM (Project R15-CW-11)United States. Dept. of State (International Fulbright Science & Technology Award)International Desalination Association (Channabasappa Memorial Scholarship)MIT Martin Family Society of Fellows for SustainabilityHugh Hampton Young Memorial Fellowshi

Hybrid electrodialysis reverse osmosis system design and its optimization for treatment of highly saline brines

The demand is rising for desalination technologies to treat highly saline brines arising from hydraulic fracturing processes and inland desalination. Interest is growing in the use of electrical desalination technologies for this application. The hybridization of electrodialysis (ED) with reverse osmosis (RO) allows high salinities (beyond the range of RO alone) to be reached while avoiding the operation of ED with a low conductivity diluate stream. Such hybrid systems have been experimentally investigated for concentrates from brackish and seawater desalination. However, progress is required in the modelling and optimization of hybrid systems at higher concentrations. A novel hybrid arrangement of counterflow ED systems with reverse osmosis is presented to concentrate a saline feed at 120 ppt. The system is considered from the perspective of efficiency, membrane productivity and the levelised cost of water, with emphasis on the optimisation of current density. In contrast to brackish ED systems, membrane resistances are found to dominate diluate and concentrate resistances at high salinity. The current density found to minimise LCW (levelised cost of water) is significantly greater than the current density found to maximise efficiency, indicating the high current capital cost of ED per unit membrane area and poor membrane transport properties relative to RO. Finally, performance at high recoveries is found to be limited by high stream-to-stream concentration differences, increasing water transport via osmosis, decreasing efficiency and increasing the LCW.Fulbright ProgramMartin Family Society of Fellows for SustainabilityInternational Desalination Association (Channabasappa Memorial Scholarship

The benefits of hybridising electrodialysis with reverse osmosis

A cost analysis reveals that hybridisation of electrodialysis with reverse osmosis is only justified if the cost of water from the reverse osmosis unit is less than 40% of that from a stand-alone electrodialysis system. In such cases the additional reverse osmosis costs justify the electrodialysis cost savings brought about by shifting salt removal to higher salinity, where current densities are higher and equipment costs lower. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that a simple hybrid configuration is more cost effective than a recirculated hybrid, a simple hybrid being one where the reverse osmosis concentrate is fed to the electrodialysis stack and the products from both units are blended, and a recirculated being one hybrid involving recirculation of the electrodialysis product back to the reverse osmosis unit. The underlying rationale is that simple hybridisation shifts salt removal away from the lowest salinity zone of operation, where salt removal is most expensive. Further shifts in the salinity at which salt is removed, brought about by recirculation, do not justify the associated increased costs of reverse osmosis.Hugh Hampton Young Memorial FellowshipCenter for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUPM (Project R15-CW-11

An Analysis of Likely Scalants in the Treatment of Produced Water from Nova Scotia

A significant barrier to further use of hydraulic fracturing to recover shale oil and/or gas is the treatment and/or disposal of hypersaline produced water. This work is an analysis of produced water from Nova Scotia, with the aim of understanding how scale impacts the choice of desalination system used in its treatment. Four water samples are presented, and for a representative case, the supersaturation of some likely scalants is estimated as a function of temperature, recovery ratio, and pH. This supersaturation map is then compared to conditions representative of common desalination systems, allowing the identification of limitations imposed by the water's composition. In contrast to many natural waters, it is found that sodium chloride is the most likely first solid to form at high recovery ratios, and that the top temperature of thermal desalination systems is unlikely to be scale-limited in the treatment of these waters.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUPM (Project R4-CW-08

Effect of entropy generation on the performance of humidification-dehumidification desalination cycles

This paper applies irreversibility analysis to characterize humidification-dehumidification (HD) desalination cycles and to identify how to further improve cycles and components. It is shown that minimizing specific entropy generation of the cycle maximizes the gained output ratio (GOR). It is also shown that each cycle has one limiting component that cannot be substantially improved and a second component that should be the target of efforts to minimize entropy generation. Finally, the failure of exergy analysis to yield conclusive results for on-design HD cycle analysis is discussed briefly.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUP

Formulation of Seawater Flow Exergy Using Accurate Thermodynamic Data

Seawater is a complex electrolyte solution of water and salts with sodium chloride as the major constituent. However, the thermodynamic properties of seawater are considerably different from those of aqueous sodium chloride solution. In the literature, exergy analyses of seawater desalination systems have sometimes modeled seawater by sodium chloride solutions of equivalent salt content or salinity; however, such matching does not bring all important properties of the two solutions into agreement. Furthermore, some published studies attempt to represent sodium chloride solutions as a specific model for an ideal mixture of liquid water and solid sodium chloride, which is shown to have serious shortcomings. In this paper, the most up-to-date thermodynamic properties of seawater are compared with those of aqueous sodium chloride solution as well as the ideal mixture model. The flow exergy is calculated using various models and the results are compared. In addition, the minimum work required to desalinate a unit mass of fresh water from seawater of varying salinity is calculated using these models. The flow exergy calculated using the ideal mixture model in question is about 50% less than that of seawater. Accordingly, the minimum desalination work is underpredicted by about 50% when calculating it using that ideal mixture model. This consequently shows that exergy analysis and the second law efficiency calculations performed using the ideal mixture model is comparatively far from the actual values.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUP

Variable Pressure Humidification Dehumidification Desalination System

Nature uses air as a carrier gas to desalinate seawater through evaporation and rain. Several investigators have previously studied desalination cycles based on carrier gas processes. However, single pressure carrier gas cycles suffer from low energy recovery and hence low performance. Here we discuss a novel carrier gas cycle which operates under varied pressure. This cycle operates the evaporation process under a reduced pressure and the condensation process at an elevated pressure to enhance energy recovery. The pressure is varied by using a mechanical compressor. This cycle has been found to be several times as efficient as the existing carrier gas cycles. In this paper, the salient features of this cycle are analyzed in an on-design sense by defining a component effectiveness for the simultaneous heat and mass exchange components and an isentropic efficiency for the compressor and the expander. Based on this study, ways to improve the cycle are proposed. The possibility of using a throttle valve instead of an expander and the effect this would have on the overall performance is reported. Comparison of the new desalination cycle with existing ones is also performed in terms of specific work consumption.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUP

Thermal Performance Evaluation of Seawater Cooling Towers

Seawater has been used for long time as a cooling fluid in heat exchangers to reduce fresh water usage in industry and power plants. The thermophysical properties of seawater are different from those of fresh water due to the salt content or salinity. This difference is sufficient to affect the heat and mass transfer processes which in turn change the thermal performance. Thermal design of fresh water cooling towers is described in detail in many textbooks and handbooks. However, only a rule of thumb is frequently used for designing of seawater cooling towers. This rule recommends degrading the tower performance by approximately 1% for every 10,000 ppm of salts in the feed water. In this paper, the thermal performance of seawater cooling towers is presented using a detailed model of counterflow wet cooling towers which takes into consideration the coupled simultaneous heat and mass transfer processes and uses state-of-the-art seawater properties from the literature. The model governing equations are solved numerically and the validity of this model is checked using new experimental data that has been measured using a bench top counterflow seawater cooling tower. The effect of the variation of seawater salinity as well as other operating conditions on the effectiveness and Merkel number is investigated.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUP

Use of multiple extractions and injections to thermodynamically balance the humidification dehumidification desalination system

Humidification dehumidification (HDH) desalination systems are well suited for small scale, off-grid desalination. These systems are very robust and can tolerate a wide range of feed salinities, making them a good candidate for treating produced water from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells. A primary engineering challenge for these systems is their high thermal energy consumption. In this study, we examine the use of multiple air extractions and injections to thermodynamically balance the HDH system, so as to make it more energy efficient. The effect of the number of extractions on several performance parameters is studied. In addition, we study the effect of the enthalpy pinch, which is a measure of performance for a heat and mass exchanger, on these performance parameters. Finally, we present results that can be used as guidelines in designing HDH systems. These results include the identification of appropriate temperatures for the extracted/injected air streams, the division of the heat duty between stages, and the value of the mass flow rate ratio in each stage at various values of enthalpy pinch.Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUPM (Project R4-CW-08