Heat and Mass Transfer Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Novel Freeze Desalination Process
| dc.contributor.author | Wise, Ethan Allen | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Ellis, Michael W. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Huxtable, Scott T. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | von Spakovsky, Michael R. | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Mechanical Engineering | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-06-25T08:00:46Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2021-06-25T08:00:46Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-06-24 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | Freeze 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. | en |
| dc.description.abstractgeneral | Freeze concentration is a thermal process that is used to purify a liquid containing dissolved solids. One application of recent interest is seawater desalination. For freeze concentration to effectively purify seawater, 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 salinity of the ice ranged from 0.42-0.71% of the original concentration. Based on insights from modeling and experimentation, a series of suggestions are made regarding future modeling and process design. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Science | en |
| dc.format.medium | ETD | en |
| dc.identifier.other | vt_gsexam:31797 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/104019 | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Desalination | en |
| dc.subject | Freeze Concentration | en |
| dc.subject | Thermal Separation | en |
| dc.title | Heat and Mass Transfer Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Novel Freeze Desalination Process | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Mechanical Engineering | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science | en |
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