Young-Deuk Kim

Sustainable renewable energy seawater desalination using combined-cycle solar and geothermal heat sources

Abstract Key goals in the improvement of desalination technology are to reduce overall energy consumption, make the process “greener,” and reduce the cost of the delivered water. Adsorption desalination (AD) is a promising new technology that has great potential to reduce the need for conventional power, to use solely renewable energy sources, and to reduce the overall cost of water treatment. This technology can desalt seawater or water of even higher salinity using waste heat, solar heat, or geothermal heat. An AD system can operate effectively at temperatures ranging from 55 to 80°C with perhaps an optimal temperature of 80°C. The generally low temperature requirement for the feedwater allows the system to operate quite efficiently using an alternative energy source, such as solar power. Solar power, particularly in warm dry regions, can generate a consistent water temperature of about 90°C. Although this temperature is more than adequate to run the system, solar energy collection only can occur during...

Performance investigation of advanced adsorption desalination cycle with condenser–evaporator heat recovery scheme

Abstract Energy or heat recovery schemes are keys for the performance improvement of any heat-activated cycles such as the absorption and adsorption cycles. We present two innovative heat recovery schemes between the condensing and evaporating units of an adsorption desalination (AD) cycle. By recovering the latent heat of condenser and dumping it into the evaporative process of the evaporator, it elevates the evaporating temperature and hence the adsorption pressure seen by the adsorbent. From isotherms, this has an effect of increasing the vapour uptake. In the proposed configurations, one approach is simply to have a run-about water circuit between the condenser and the evaporator and a pump is used to achieve the water circulation. This run-around circuit is a practical method for retrofitting purposes. The second method is targeted towards a new AD cycle where an encapsulated condenser–evaporator unit is employed. The heat transfer between the condensing and evaporative vapour is almost immediate and...

Numerical simulation of solar-assisted multi-effect distillation (SMED) desalination systems

Abstract We present a simulation model for the transient behavior of solar-assisted seawater desalination plant that employs the evacuated-tube collectors in conjunction with a multi-effect distillation plant of nominal water production capacity of 16 m3/day. This configuration has been selected due to merits in terms of environment-friendliness and energy efficiency. The solar-assisted multi-effect distillation system comprises 849 m2 of evacuated-tube collectors, 280 m3 water storage tanks, auxiliary heater, and six effects and a condenser. The present analysis employs a baseline configuration, namely; (i) the local solar insolation input (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), (ii) a coolant flow rate through the headers of collector based on ASHRAE standards, (iii) a heating water demand, and (iv) the augmentation of water temperature by auxiliary when the supply temperature from the solar tank drops below the set point. It is observed that the annual collector efficiency and solar fraction decrease from 57.3 to 54.8...

Thermophysical Properties of Novel Zeolite Materials for Sorption Cycles

This article discusses the thermophysical properties of zeolite-based adsorbents. Three types of zeolite (Z-01, Z-02 and Z-05) with different chemical compositions developed by Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc. are analyzed for possible applications in adsorption chillers and desalination cycles driven by low-temperature waste heat sources. The experiments are performed using static volumetric method with N2 gas sorption at 77 K. Thermophysical properties such as pore surface area, micropore volume and pore size distribution are evaluated using standard multi-point Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Non-Local Density Functional Theory (NLDFT) methods. It is observed that Aluminosilicate functionalized Z-02 exhibits the highest surface area with huge micropore volume.

Effect of Water on the Kinetics of Nitric Oxides Reduction by Ammonia over V-based Catalyst

Abstract : The main and side reactions of the three selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reactions with ammonia over a vanadium-based catalyst have been investigated using synthetic gas mixtures in the temperature range of 170~590°C. The three SCR reactions are standard SCR with pure NO, fast SCR with an equimolar mixture of NO and NO 2 , and NO 2 SCR with pure NO 2 . Vanadium based catalyst has no significant activity in NO oxidation to NO 2 , while it has high activity for NO 2 decomposition at high temperatures. The selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia and the formation of nitrous oxide compete with the SCR reactions at the high temperatures. Water strongly inhibits the selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia and the formation of nitrous oxide, thus increasing the selectivity of the SCR reactions. However, the presence of water inhibits the SCR activity, most pronounced at low temperatures. In this study, the experimental results are analyzed by means of a dynamic one-dimensional isothermal heterogeneous plug-flow reactor (PFR) model according to the Eley-Rideal mechanism.

Detailed modeling and simulation of an out-in configuration vacuum membrane distillation process

In this study, a detailed rigorous theoretical model was developed to predict the transmembrane flux of a shell-and-tube type vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) module for seawater desalination. Two modes of operation are used for performing the VMD, namely lumen-side feed (in-out) configuration and shell-side feed (out-in) configuration. In this study, detailed mathematical formulations are derived for an out-in configuration that is commonly used in seawater desalination applications. Experimental results and model predictions for mean permeate flux are compared and shown to be in good agreement. The results indicate that although the simple VMD model that maintains a constant permeate pressure is easy to use, it is likely to significantly overestimate the mean permeate flux when compared to the detailed model that considers the pressure build-up in the fiber lumen. The pressure build-up of water vapor in the fiber lumen is identified as the crucial factor that significantly affects the VMD performance because it directly reduces the driving force for vapor permeation through the membrane pores. Additionally, its effect is more pronounced at longer fiber lengths and higher permeate fluxes, and this is achieved at higher feed temperatures and velocities and at lower feed salinities. In conclusion, the results of the study are extremely important in module design for the practical applications of VMD processes.

The performance investigation of a temperature cascaded cogeneration system equipped with adsorption desalination unit

Abstract This paper presents the performance investigation of a temperature cascaded cogeneration plant, shortly in TCCP, equipped with an efficient waste heat recovery system. The TCCP or cogeneration system produces four types of useful energy namely (i) electricity, (ii) steam, (iii) cooling, and (iv) dehumidification and distilled water by utilizing single energy source. The TCCP comprises a Capstone C30 micro-turbine that generates nominal capacity of 26 kW of electricity, a compact and efficient waste heat recovery system and a host of waste heat-activated devices namely (i) a steam generator, (ii) an absorption chiller, (iii) an adsorption desalination system, and (iv) a multi-bed desiccant dehumidifier. The analysis is performed under different operation conditions such as heat source temperatures, flow rates of heat transfer fluids and chilled water inlet temperatures. The only single heat source for TCCP is obtained from exhaust gas of micro-turbine and it is channeled to a series of waste heat ...

An Experimental and Modeling Study on the Oxidation Kinetics of Nitric Oxide over Platinum-based Catalysts

Abstract : To improve the NO X conversion over a SCR (selective catalytic reduction) catalyst, the DOC (diesel oxidation catalyst) is usually placed upstream of the SCR catalyst to enhance the fast SCR reaction (4NH 3 +2NO+ 2NO 2 → 4N 2 +6H 2 O) using equimolar amounts of NO and NO 2 . Here, a ratio of NO 2 /NO X above 50% should be avoided, because the reaction with NO 2 only (4NH 3 +4NO+O 2 → 4N 2 +6H 2 O) is slower than the standard SCR reaction (4NH 3 +4NO+O 2 → 4N 2 +6H 2 O). In order to accurately predict the performance characteristics of SCR catalysts, it is therefore desired to develop a more simple and reliable mathematical and kinetic models on the oxidation kinetics of nitric oxide over a DOC. In the present work, the prediction accuracy and limit of three different chemical reaction kinetics models are presented to describe the chemicophysical characteristics and conversion performance of DOCs. Steady-state experiments with DOCs mounted on a light-duty four-cylinder 2.0-L turbocharged diesel engine then are performed, using an engine-dynamometer system to calibrate the kinetic parameters such as activation energies and preexponential factors of heterogeneous reactions. The reaction kinetics for NO oxidation over Pt-based catalysts is determined in conjunction with a transient one-dimensional (1D) heterogeneous plug flow reactor (PFR) model with diesel exhaust gas temperatures in the range of 115~525°C and space velocities in the range of (0.4~6.5) ⨉10

The performance of a temperature cascaded cogeneration system producing steam, cooling and dehumidification

Abstract This paper discusses the performance of a temperature-cascaded cogeneration plant (TCCP), equipped with an efficient waste heat recovery system. The TCCP, also called a cogeneration system, produces four types of useful energy—namely, (i) electricity, (ii) steam, (iii) cooling and (iv) dehumidification—by utilizing single fuel source. The TCCP comprises a Capstone C-30 micro-turbine that generates nominal capacity of 26 kW of electricity, a compact and efficient waste heat recovery system and a host of waste-heat-activated devices, namely (i) a steam generator, (ii) an absorption chiller, (iii) an adsorption chiller and (iv) a multi-bed desiccant dehumidifier. The performance analysis was conducted under different operation conditions such as different exhaust gas temperatures. It was observed that energy utilization factor could be as high as 70% while fuel energy saving ratio was found to be 28%.

Performance investigation of a cogeneration plant with the efficient and compact heat recovery system

This paper presents the performance investigation of a cogeneration plant equipped with an efficient waste heat recovery system. The proposed cogeneration system produces four types of useful energy namely: (i) electricity, (ii) steam, (iii) cooling and (iv) dehumidification. The proposed plant comprises a Capstone C30 micro-turbine which generates 24 kW of electricity, a compact and efficient waste heat recovery system and a host of waste heat activated devices namely (i) a steam generator, (ii) an absorption chiller, (iii) an adsorption chiller and (iv) a multi-bed desiccant dehumidifier. The numerical analysis for the host of waste heat recovery system and thermally activated devices using FORTRAN power station linked to powerful IMSL library is performed to investigate the performance of the overall system. A set of experiments, both part load and full load, of micro-turbine is conducted to examine the electricity generation and the exhaust gas temperature. It is observed that energy utilization factor (EUF) could achieve as high as 70% while Fuel Energy Saving Ratio (FESR) is found to be 28%.