Energy efficient 3D printed column type feed spacer for membrane filtration

Ali, SM; Qamar, A; Kerdi, S; Phuntsho, S; Vrouwenvelder, JS; Ghaffour, N; Shon, HK

Energy efficient 3D printed column type feed spacer for membrane filtration

Ali, SM

Qamar, A Kerdi, S Phuntsho, S

Vrouwenvelder, JS Ghaffour, N Shon, HK

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Water Research, 2019, 164
Issue Date:: 2019-11-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ali, SM https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3005-7924	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Qamar, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Kerdi, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Phuntsho, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3917-3916	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Vrouwenvelder, JS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ghaffour, N	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Shon, HK https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3777-7169	en_US
dc.date.available	2019-08-06	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-11-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Water Research, 2019, 164	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0043-1354	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/136865
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Modification of the feed spacer design significantly influences the energy consumption of membrane filtration processes. This study developed a novel column type feed spacer with the aim to reduce the specific energy consumption (SEC) of the membrane based water filtration system. The proposed spacer increases the clearance between the filament and the membrane (reducing the spacer filament diameter) while keeping the same flow channel thickness as compared to a standard non-woven symmetric spacer. Since the higher clearance reduces the flow unsteadiness, column type nodes were added in the spacer structure as additional vortex shading bodies. Fluid flow behaviour in the channel for this spacer was numerically simulated by 3D CFD studies and then compared with the standard spacer. The numerical results showed that the proposed spacer substantially reduced the pressure drop, shear stress at the constriction region and shortened the dead zone. Finally, these findings were confirmed experimentally by investigating the filtration performances using the 3D printed prototypes of these spacers in a lab-scale filtration module. It is observed that the column spacer reduced the pressure drop by three times and doubled the specific water flux. 2D OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) scans of the membrane surface acquired after the filtration revealed much lower biomass accumulation using the proposed spacer. Consequently, the SEC for the column spacer was found about two folds lower than the standard spacer.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101208
dc.relation.ispartof	Water Research	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.watres.2019.114961	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Engineering	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Membranes, Artificial	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Filtration	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Water Purification	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Biofouling	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Printing, Three-Dimensional	en_US
dc.title	Energy efficient 3D printed column type feed spacer for membrane filtration	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	164	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CTWW - Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater Treatment
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Students
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	164	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Modification of the feed spacer design significantly influences the energy consumption of membrane filtration processes. This study developed a novel column type feed spacer with the aim to reduce the specific energy consumption (SEC) of the membrane based water filtration system. The proposed spacer increases the clearance between the filament and the membrane (reducing the spacer filament diameter) while keeping the same flow channel thickness as compared to a standard non-woven symmetric spacer. Since the higher clearance reduces the flow unsteadiness, column type nodes were added in the spacer structure as additional vortex shading bodies. Fluid flow behaviour in the channel for this spacer was numerically simulated by 3D CFD studies and then compared with the standard spacer. The numerical results showed that the proposed spacer substantially reduced the pressure drop, shear stress at the constriction region and shortened the dead zone. Finally, these findings were confirmed experimentally by investigating the filtration performances using the 3D printed prototypes of these spacers in a lab-scale filtration module. It is observed that the column spacer reduced the pressure drop by three times and doubled the specific water flux. 2D OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) scans of the membrane surface acquired after the filtration revealed much lower biomass accumulation using the proposed spacer. Consequently, the SEC for the column spacer was found about two folds lower than the standard spacer.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/136865