Numerical investigation on packing density and inlet configurations of hollow fibres and their effects on flow pattern within ultrafiltration modules
Journal Title: Scientific Journal of Environmental Sciences - Year 2016, Vol 5, Issue 11
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the changes in output permeate flowrate of ultrafiltration hollow fibres with double - end configuration. Different parameters such as packing density, feed pressure and location of feed inlet are studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This study adopts the numerical approach to predict how each of the factors influence the output (i.e. flowrate) of the filtration process. Preliminary studies were done to validate the numerical predictions against existing literature, showing good agreement with available data. The effect of packing density on hollow fibre with double-end configuration was then investigated. The ratio of allowable spaces between fibres, denoted by ε, was used to quantify the packing density. 2 sets of numerical model for double-end hollow fibre with ε ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 were simulated for fibre length of 1 metre and 2 metre respectively. Results showed that a higher ε value used in for the packing of hollow fibres lead to higher permeate flowrate. However, this increment stagnates even as ε is increased beyond 0.6. Other factors such as inlet positioning and fibre length, which affects feed pressure distribution were also investigated. Simulation results concluded that feed pressure distribution and output flowrate varies depending on where the inlet is situated. The proposed new inlet located along the fibre length also improves the uniformity of the feed pressure distribution along hollow fibres. This makes positioning of the inlet crucial to the overall performance of the ultrafiltration module.
Authors and Affiliations
Keng Boon Lim| Professional Officers’ Division, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore., Peng Cheng Wang*| Engineering, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore., Hui An| Engineering, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore.
Keywords
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- EP ID EP1332
- DOI 10.14196/sjes.v5i11.2292
- Views 481
- Downloads 30
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