{"id":{"repo_id":"colo-mines","oai_identifier":"oai:repository.mines.edu:11124/178654"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/colo-mines/oai:repository.mines.edu:11124/178654","repository":{"repo_id":"colo-mines","name":"Colorado School of Mines","base_url":"https://repository.mines.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Instigating buoyancy driven convection to improve membrane distillation performance","abstract":"Membrane distillation is a thermally driven desalination process that is capable of treating complicated wastewaters with high concentrations of dissolved solids. However, temperature polarization and concentration polarization reduce its distillate production and impede its industrial adoption. Surprisingly, no prior work has considered that temperature and concentration polarization both increase the feed density near the membrane. In this exploratory study, we explore whether these differences in local feed density can instigate buoyancy driven convection in the feed flow and mitigate polarization. We also explore whether we can strengthen this convection by actively heating the feed channel in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system. For that purpose, we develop several actively heated prototypes and perform a series of experiments to explore how active heating affects distillate production. The prototypes are tested in multiple orientations to determine if buoyancy driven convection is truly taking place. The tests are also performed at multiple feed flowrates and feed concentrations to explore how temperature and concentration polarization affect the development of buoyancy driven convection. Overall, our experiments suggest that, with the cell oriented properly, buoyancy driven convection can be harnessed to significantly improve distillate production. For all flowrates tested, we observed a linear increase in distillate flux with increasing wall heating. The impact of wall heating also increases as the flowrate decreases.","abstract_html":"Membrane distillation is a thermally driven desalination process that is capable of treating complicated wastewaters with high concentrations of dissolved solids. However, temperature polarization and concentration polarization reduce its distillate production and impede its industrial adoption. Surprisingly, no prior work has considered that temperature and concentration polarization both increase the feed density near the membrane. In this exploratory study, we explore whether these differences in local feed density can instigate buoyancy driven convection in the feed flow and mitigate polarization. We also explore whether we can strengthen this convection by actively heating the feed channel in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system. For that purpose, we develop several actively heated prototypes and perform a series of experiments to explore how active heating affects distillate production. The prototypes are tested in multiple orientations to determine if buoyancy driven convection is truly taking place. The tests are also performed at multiple feed flowrates and feed concentrations to explore how temperature and concentration polarization affect the development of buoyancy driven convection. Overall, our experiments suggest that, with the cell oriented properly, buoyancy driven convection can be harnessed to significantly improve distillate production. For all flowrates tested, we observed a linear increase in distillate flux with increasing wall heating. The impact of wall heating also increases as the flowrate decreases.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mabry, Miles"],"institution":"Colorado School of Mines. 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However, temperature polarization and concentration polarization reduce its distillate production and impede its industrial adoption. Surprisingly, no prior work has considered that temperature and concentration polarization both increase the feed density near the membrane. In this exploratory study, we explore whether these differences in local feed density can instigate buoyancy driven convection in the feed flow and mitigate polarization. We also explore whether we can strengthen this convection by actively heating the feed channel in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system. For that purpose, we develop several actively heated prototypes and perform a series of experiments to explore how active heating affects distillate production. The prototypes are tested in multiple orientations to determine if buoyancy driven convection is truly taking place. The tests are also performed at multiple feed flowrates and feed concentrations to explore how temperature and concentration polarization affect the development of buoyancy driven convection. Overall, our experiments suggest that, with the cell oriented properly, buoyancy driven convection can be harnessed to significantly improve distillate production. For all flowrates tested, we observed a linear increase in distillate flux with increasing wall heating. The impact of wall heating also increases as the flowrate decreases."]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["born digital","masters theses"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Instigating buoyancy driven convection to improve membrane distillation performance"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Tilton, Nils"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Cath, Tzahi Y.","DeCaluwe, Steven C."],"dc:creator":["Mabry, Miles"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2023-12-08T17:24:04Z"],"dc:date.available":["2023-12-08T17:24:04Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2023"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references.","2023 Summer."],"dc:description.abstract":["Membrane distillation is a thermally driven desalination process that is capable of treating complicated wastewaters with high concentrations of dissolved solids. However, temperature polarization and concentration polarization reduce its distillate production and impede its industrial adoption. Surprisingly, no prior work has considered that temperature and concentration polarization both increase the feed density near the membrane. In this exploratory study, we explore whether these differences in local feed density can instigate buoyancy driven convection in the feed flow and mitigate polarization. We also explore whether we can strengthen this convection by actively heating the feed channel in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system. For that purpose, we develop several actively heated prototypes and perform a series of experiments to explore how active heating affects distillate production. The prototypes are tested in multiple orientations to determine if buoyancy driven convection is truly taking place. The tests are also performed at multiple feed flowrates and feed concentrations to explore how temperature and concentration polarization affect the development of buoyancy driven convection. Overall, our experiments suggest that, with the cell oriented properly, buoyancy driven convection can be harnessed to significantly improve distillate production. For all flowrates tested, we observed a linear increase in distillate flux with increasing wall heating. The impact of wall heating also increases as the flowrate decreases."],"dc:format.medium":["born digital","masters theses"],"dc:identifier":["Mabry_mines_0052N_12733.pdf","T 9654"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/11124/178654"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Colorado School of Mines. 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