Simulation of spiral-wound pressure retarded osmosis for harvesting osmotic power: Module-level modeling and implications of feed pre-treatment

Abstract

A process-scale model for pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) using a 1-dimensional representation of the spiral-wound membrane is presented. Comparing a length-averaged modeling approach with a true counter-current approach reveals that the former holds only for relatively short membrane lengths while it over-predicts the net power output for longer membranes. For a membrane line with eight spiral-wound elements in series, the length-average model over-predicted the PRO performance by 20 %. The model was further used to assess the impact of feed pre-treatment on process performance and optimal process design. Feed pre-treatment was found to be a dominant factor affecting the optimal inlet feed flow rate and the power output. Our model suggests that for a moderate to high feed pre-treatment requirement the inlet feed flow rate is close to minimum feed flow rate of the membrane module. In the absence of feed pre-treatment a power density of 143 and 284 W m−2 for CTA and TFC membranes, respectively, was found. When feed pre-treatment with 100 Wh m−3 was employed these numbers dropped to 48 and 94 W m−2.