Chapters authored
A Novel Low-Temperature Thermal Desalination Technology Using Direct-Contact Spray Method
Due to the emerging water crisis, the global desalination capacity has been expanding exponentially in the past few decades, leading to substantial amount of primary energy consumption. Therefore, the exploration of energy-efficient desalination processes and alternative energy sources has been the subject of great research interests. The spray-assisted low-temperature desalination (SLTD) system is a novel method for desalination that enables efficient renewable energy utilization. It works on the direct-contact spray evaporation/condensation mechanism and uses only hollow chambers. The merits include enhanced heat and mass transfer, lower initial and operational costs, and reduced scaling and fouling issues. This chapter presents a study on the SLTD system driven by sensible heat sources. The working principle of the system will be introduced first. Then a thermodynamic analysis will be presented to obtain the freshwater productivity under different design and operational conditions. Additionally, the energy utilization level will be quantified to highlight the energy wastage when operating with sensible heat sources. Afterward, the system configuration will be modified to maximize the utilization of sensible heat sources and promote productivity. Finally economic viability of the modified design will be evaluated.
Part of the book: Desalination
Direct Contact Heat and Mass Exchanger for Heating, Cooling, Humidification, and Dehumidification
A direct-contact heat and mass exchanger (DCHME) has many advantages over a traditional surface-type heat exchanger, including a high heat transfer coefficient, simplicity of design, and low OPEX and CAPEX. DCHME has a capability to exchange of both heat and mass between the two fluids in the same process. Hence, DCHMEs are widely used in numerous applications in various industries, including the air conditioning industry for cooling and dehumidification and heating and humidification. Based on their structure, DCHME can be categorized into two groups; two fluids direct contact (TFDC) exchanger and two direct contacts with one non-contact fluid (TDCONF) exchanger. This study developed a mathematical model for these two types of exchangers by using a discretized volume with distributed lumped-parameters method instead of using the conventional log mean enthalpy difference (LMHD) and NTU-effectiveness method. Thus, this model can reflect both heat and mass transfer behavior in every spatially distributed physical system. The objective of this study is to develop a mathematical model to be used as a tool for designing DCHME and to be applied as a sub-function of the model predictive control system to predict the effectiveness and dependent parameters of DCHME under the different load conditions and its various input parameters.
Part of the book: Heat Exchangers