ARTICLE:

• COMPREHENSIVE NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF A DESALINATION PLANT  download article

M. R. Islam
Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, UAE University, United Arab Emirates

M. Z. Saghir
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, UAE University, United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT

Reverse osmosis is the most commonly used desalination technique. Research in this area has focused on the development of sophisticated techniques of thin film polymeric membranes that are currently commercialised. Many of the reverse osmosis desalination plants exhibit deviations in quality from the originally designed quality¹. It has been revealed that several time-dependent variables are not properly accounted for during the design phase. A comprehensive numerical simulator is essential before an accurate performance prediction can be done. In this paper, a finite element numerical simulator that incorporates all salient features of a desalination plant is presented. Results of the numerical simulator are compared with field observations, with excellent agreements.
The numerical simulator uses a combination of Navier Stokes equation (for the central tube) and the Brinkman equation for the porous media section (hollow cylinder). The flow equations were solved with energy and mass balance equations. Although temperature change in a desalination plant is not considered significant, the energy balance equation was solved for the sake of completeness. A multicomponent adsorption model was incorporated into the porous media section of the simulator. Adding diffusion and dispersion for both pipe flow and porous media flow completed the model.

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