Experimental research on enhanced heat and mass transfer in transport membrane condenser under an acoustic stimulus

Abstract

The transport membrane condenser (TMC) is a novel membrane contactor that efficiently recovers moisture and waste heat from flue gas. However, the presence of non-condensing gas boundary layers and cooling water boundary layers significantly diminishes the heat and mass transfer performance of ceramic membranes. Additional fields (electric and vibrational) become one of the effective ways to solve the problem. However, the mechanism by which acoustic fields affect water vapor recovery through ceramic membranes remains unclear. Therefore, this study employs an acoustic field-coupled TMC to investigate the influence of acoustic fields on the heat and mass transfer performance. Two engineering schemes coupling TMC with acoustic fields are proposed, and the feasibility of their application is analyzed. The results demonstrate that arranging the acoustic field on the water side yields superior heat and mass transfer performance. A significant vortex effect is discovered when the acoustic field frequency is between 300 and 400 Hz, resulting in a 44% increase in mass transfer rate and a 52% increase in condensation rate. Taking a 330 MW coal-fired power plant as an example, the incorporation of acoustic fields in the two proposed schemes reduces the payback period by 1.56 years and 1.58 years, respectively, and increases the net present value by 143% and 90%.