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Numerical analysis of flow and mass transport in a reverse electrodialysis stack with spacer-channel

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  • Li, Mei
  • Zhang, Jiazhou
  • Zheng, Hongbo
  • Long, Xinyang
  • Liu, Jianghui

Abstract

In order to describe the flow and mass transport in reverse electrodialysis (RED) with spacer-channel, a two-dimensional model based on Nernst-Planck framework was developed in a full-height cell pair domain by extending the periodic portion of a cell pair using boundary mapping method (BMM). The distributions of velocity, ion concentration and electrical potential were analyzed in detail. The influence of various modelling approaches for stack on the ion transport was explored. With the developed model, the power generation performance of stack was evaluated under different flow rates, concentrations and cell pair numbers and also, the fundamental mechanisms governing the parameters characterizing stack performance were revealed. The simulation results suggest that the existence of spacers induces the smooth peak-shaped dead zones formed at spacer-membrane interfaces, where the concentration polarization is also the most severe. Furthermore, the concentration polarization from inlet to outlet whether in diluted compartment (DC) or in concentrated compartment (CC) both tends to strengthen along with an involved developing enlarged region. Compared with conventional unit cell pair method (UCPM), the use of BMM causes a continuous and gradual variation in concentration profile along the flow direction. Furthermore, it leads to an increment in the concentration in DC along the height direction and decrement in the concentration in CC. A comparative analysis of spacer-channels with UCPM and BMM shows that the smaller stack resistance and higher power density calculated by BMM are closer to measurements, which validates the effectiveness of BMM. The current model contributes to a deeper understanding of the association between ion transport characteristic and stack feature.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Mei & Zhang, Jiazhou & Zheng, Hongbo & Long, Xinyang & Liu, Jianghui, 2025. "Numerical analysis of flow and mass transport in a reverse electrodialysis stack with spacer-channel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:337:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225041994
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.138557
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jeong, Hoe-In & Kim, Hyun Jung & Kim, Dong-Kwon, 2014. "Numerical analysis of transport phenomena in reverse electrodialysis for system design and optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 229-237.
    2. Zohreh Jalili & Jon G. Pharoah & Odne Stokke Burheim & Kristian Etienne Einarsrud, 2018. "Temperature and Velocity Effects on Mass and Momentum Transport in Spacer-Filled Channels for Reverse Electrodialysis: A Numerical Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-24, August.
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