Virginia Tech
Heat and Mass Transfer Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Novel Freeze Desalination Process
Abstract
dc:description.abstractFreeze concentration is a thermal separation process that is used to purify aqueous solutions. One application of recent interest is seawater desalination. For freeze concentration to be an effective desalination method, a high ice growth rate and product purity must be achieved with energy usage comparable to that of competing technologies. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a coupled heat and mass transfer model to predict the growth rate and purity of the solid phase for ice grown about a horizontal, immersed tube. By simultaneously solving the heat and mass transfer problems, this model improves upon previous attempts found in the literature. In addition, an experimental apparatus was constructed and a series of ten experiments was run, considering a range of cooling rates, process times, and saltwater concentrations. Average ice growth velocities ranged from 3.1-13.1 mm/h and the observed partition coefficient ranged from 0.42-0.71. The model was calibrated using experimental data, and the coefficients of variation for the fitted model's prediction of ice mass and capture concentration were 15.4% and 7.6% respectively. Based on insights from modeling and experimentation, a series of suggestions are made regarding future modeling and process design.
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Master of Science
- Level thesis:degree_level
- masters
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- Mechanical Engineering
- Department dc:contributor.department
- Mechanical Engineering
- Grantor dc:publisher
- Virginia Tech
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2021
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Wise, Ethan Allen
- Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
-
- Ellis, Michael W.
- Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
-
- Huxtable, Scott T.
- von Spakovsky, Michael R.
Subjects
dc:subject × 3Rights
dc:rights- Statement dc:rights
-
- In Copyright
- Licence dc:rights.uri
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Dc Identifier Other
- vt_gsexam:31797
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/104019