Chemical Engineering / Kimya Mühendisliği
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/14
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Article Citation - WoS: 3Citation - Scopus: 3Numerical Study of Electrostatic Desalting: a Detailed Parametric Study(MDPI, 2022) Ramirez-Argaez, Marco A.; Abreú-López, Diego; Gracia-Fadrique, Jesús; Dutta, AbhishekA systematic process analysis was conducted to study the effect of the main variables in an industrial electrostatic desalter, such as electric field intensity, wash water content, droplet size, and oil viscosity, on the efficiency of the separation of water from oil. The analysis was assessed through an already published and validated CFD multiphase numerical model that considers the expression of the frequency of collisions as a function of the mentioned process variables. Additionally, the study allowed the formal optimization exercise of the operation to maximize the separation efficiency. The most significant variables were the initial water content and the electric field intensity, while the temperature (oil viscosity) had an effect to a lower extent. An increase in the electric field and temperature and a decrease in the water content improved the water separation from oil. Optimum values suggested from the factorial experimental design and the optimization implemented in this work indicated the use of an electric field of 3 kV/cm, water content of 3%, and an oil viscosity of 0.017 kg/ms. At the same time, the droplet size showed no significant effect under the conditions explored in this work.Article Citation - WoS: 11Citation - Scopus: 12Numerical Modelling Assisted Design of a Compact Ultrafiltration (uf) Flat Sheet Membrane Module(MDPI, 2021) Bopape, Mokgadi F.; Van Geel, Tim; Dutta, Abhishek; Van der Bruggen, Bart; Onyango, Maurice StephenThe increasing adoption of ultra-low pressure (ULP) membrane systems for drinking water treatment in small rural communities is currently hindered by a limited number of studies on module design. Detailed knowledge on both intrinsic membrane transport properties and fluid hydrodynamics within the module is essential in understanding ULP performance prediction, mass transfer analysis for scaling-up between lab-scale and industrial scale research. In comparison to hollow fiber membranes, flat sheet membranes present certain advantages such as simple manufacture, sheet replacement for cleaning, moderate packing density and low to moderate energy usage. In the present case study, a numerical model using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) of a novel custom flat sheet membrane module has been designed in 3D to predict fluid flow conditions. The permeate flux through the membrane decreased with an increase in spacer curviness from 2.81 L/m(2)h for no (0%) curviness to 2.73 L/m(2)h for full (100%) curviness. A parametric analysis on configuration variables was carried out to determine the optimum design variables and no significant influence of spacer inflow or outflow thickness on the fluid flow were observed. The numerical model provides the necessary information on the role of geometrical and operating parameters for fabricating a module prototype where access to technical expertise is limited.Editorial Citation - WoS: 1Citation - Scopus: 1Special Issue on “process Modeling in Pyrometallurgical Engineering”(MDPI, 2021) Saxen, Henrik; Ramirez-Argaez, Marco A.; Conejo, Alberto N.; Dutta, AbhishekThis Special Issue on “Process Modeling in Pyrometallurgical Engineering” consists of 39 articles, including two review papers, and covers a wide range of topics related to process development and analysis based on modeling in ironmaking, steelmaking, flash smelting, casting, rolling operations, etc. The approaches include small-scale experiments and experimental design, first-principles modeling, detailed modeling based on CFD or DEM, and statistical and machine-learning-based methods. In the following paragraphs the issue is briefly scanned, presenting the papers in the order roughly following the route from raw materials processing to rolling and heat treatment.Article Citation - WoS: 5Citation - Scopus: 5Numerical Study of Electrostatic Desalting Process Based on Droplet Collision Time(MDPI, 2021) Ramirez-Argaez, Marco A.; Abreu-Lopez, Diego; Gracia-Fadrique, Jesus; Dutta, AbhishekThe desalting process of an electrostatic desalting unit was studied using the collision time of two droplets in a water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion based on force balance. Initially, the model was solved numerically to perform a process analysis and to indicate the effect of the main process parameters, such as electric field strength, water content, temperature (through oil viscosity) and droplet size on the collision time or frequency of collision between a pair of droplets. In decreasing order of importance on the reduction of collision time and consequently on the efficiency of desalting separation, the following variables can be classified such as moisture content, electrostatic field strength, oil viscosity and droplet size. After this analysis, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of a biphasic water-oil flow was developed in steady state using a Eulerian multiphase framework, in which collision frequency and probability of coalescence of droplets were assumed. This study provides some insights into the heterogeneity of a desalination plant which highlights aspects of design performance. This study further emphasizes the importance of two variables as moisture content and intensity of electrostatic field for dehydrated desalination by comparing the simulation with the electrostatic field against the same simulation without its presence. The overall objective of this study is therefore to show the necessity of including complex phenomena such as the frequency of collisions and coalescence in a CFD model for better understanding and optimization of the desalting process from both process safety and improvement.