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A master's thesis from Aalborg University
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Membrane Fouling Modeling and enhancement through gas injection

Author

Term

4. semester

Publication year

2016

Abstract

Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan gasinjektion i fødestrømmen kan begrænse membrantilsmudsning og forbedre tværstrømsfiltrering i rørformede membraner til rensning af produced water. En eksisterende fysisk model for fluxfald ved tværstrømsfiltrering præsenteres og valideres. Modellen fremhæver sammenhængen mellem fald i permeatflux og vægskærespænding. Der udføres CFD-simuleringer for både énfase- (kun væske) og tofase- (væske–gas) strømning for at beregne vægskærespændingen; disse værdier indføres i modellen for at sammenligne drift med og uden gas. Resultaterne indikerer, at gasinjektion øger vægskærespændingen og giver en højere stationær permeatflux end drift uden gas, og at forbedringen kan være betydelig selv ved små gasmængder. Arbejdet peger desuden på de grænse- og driftsparametre, der mest påvirker resultatet, for at identificere betingelser, hvor teknologien har størst effekt.

This thesis investigates how injecting gas into the feed stream can mitigate membrane fouling and improve tubular crossflow filtration for produced water treatment. An existing physics-based model of permeate flux decline in crossflow is presented and validated. The model emphasizes the link between flux decline and wall shear stress. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of both single-phase (liquid only) and two-phase (liquid–gas) flow are performed to estimate wall shear stress; these values are fed into the model to compare operation with and without gas. The results indicate that gas injection increases wall shear stress and leads to a higher steady-state permeate flux than liquid-only operation, with significant enhancement even at low gas injection rates. The study also highlights the boundary and operating parameters that most influence performance to identify conditions where the technology delivers the greatest benefit.

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