Experimental Validation of Convection-Enhanced Brine Evaporation: Trials at Bench-Scale and Pilot-Scale
2023-06
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Experimental Validation of Convection-Enhanced Brine Evaporation: Trials at Bench-Scale and Pilot-Scale
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2023-06
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With the increase in use of desalination technologies to meet freshwater requirements, there is an increase in brine production and associated need for brine management solutions. Current brine management solutions are economically and environmentally unsustainable, particularly for inland desalination plants and small-volume (<100 m^3$/day) facilities. Convection enhanced evaporation (CEE) is a modular brine volume reduction strategy with the potential to be an economically feasible solution for these inland and small-volume industries. A mathematical model that predicts the evaporation behavior of the CEE system was previously developed in the Wright Lab. The objective of this thesis was to validate the model-predicted parametric behavior of the CEE system using a single tray bench-scale system, and to test a full-scale unit in the field to better understand practical limitations. In the lab, the modeled evaporation rate was compared to the experimental evaporation rate while controlling injection temperature, injection flow rate, air speed, and the salinity of the fluid for a single tray system. The model predicted the evaporation rate of deionized water with average absolute error of 28.6% and predicted the evaporation rate of salt water with an average absolute error of 9.4%. Overall, the model demonstrated good parametric correlation for the single tray system with controlled inputs; error appears to be associated with under prediction of the evaporation rate at low injection rates and over prediction of the evaporation rate at higher flow rates. Full-scale trials in Alamogordo, New Mexico were conducted over the course of seven days. Initial findings indicate the need for pulsed injection in order to obtain even vertical distribution across the stack of trays. The overall evaporation trends align with the model, with the cumulative daily evaporation varying from 5% to 67% absolute error against the experimental results. Further work is needed to test the field system with real brine streams, over varied weather conditions, and over extended periods of time.
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University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. June 2023. Major: Mechanical Engineering. Advisor: Natasha Wright. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 41 pages.
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Brown, Trenton. (2023). Experimental Validation of Convection-Enhanced Brine Evaporation: Trials at Bench-Scale and Pilot-Scale. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/265110.
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