Computational fluid dynamics based numerical simulations of heat transfer, fluid flow and mass transfer in vacuum membrane distillation process

Abstract

Abstract In this study, we developed a comprehensive two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model using COMSOL™ Multiphysics to describe and simulate heat transfer, mass transfer and fluid flow in the flat sheet vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) under laminar flow conditions. A combination of Knudsen and Poiseuille flow was applied to study mass transfer across the membrane. The effect of variation of Reynolds number, inlet feed temperature and degree of vacuum on different parameters (mass flux, temperature polarization coefficient- TPC, concentration polarisation, heat transfer coefficient) was studied. There was a positive impact of the Reynolds number (50–200) on mass flux (13.15%), heat transfer coefficient (2.64%) and TPC (1.42%), while CPC decreased by 56.63%. The increment in the heat transfer coefficient was due to fluid mixing on the feed side, while the increment in the TPC was due to a higher temperature gradient across the membrane surfaces. The increment in the feed temperature (323–343 K) resulted in an increase in mass flux by 132.9%, while TPC decreased from 0.98 to 0.90. The degree of vacuum (640–750 mm Hg) increased mass flux and heat transfer coefficient by 72.52 and 425.83%, respectively, while the TPC decreased by 8.81%. The feed temperature was the most sensitive parameter with respect to mass flux. The developed CFD model was validated with in-house experimental results with reasonable accuracy.