Modeling of Mass Transfer in Cavity Limited by a Semi Permeable Membrane （Simulation of Spiral Wound Module）

The reverse osmosis process has been applied in large industrial fields （water treatment, food industry, biotechnology, and ect.）. Despite, this progress more investigation are required to optimize the reverse osmosis process. The present paper deals the modeling of mass transfer in a cavity limited by a semi-permeable membrane. Mass conservation and momentum balances are developed, dimensionless and control volume method has been applied. The velocity and concentration profiles versus the Reynolds number and Sherwood are studied. The results show that the permeability of the membrane decreases as function of the transversal （radial） component of the velocity. The axial （tangential） component of the velocity presents a good stability along the thickness of the cavity; this phenomenon can be attributed to the zero gradient of the tangential velocity. These preliminary results show that the phenomenon of the concentration polarization affects the mass transfer coefficient in a channel. Current study has considered the cavity without a promoter of the turbulence; whereas, the design of the spacer has an important role on mass transfer coefficient in the reverse osmosis module. Our next interest is the integration of the spacer in the cavity, and the study of the effect of its design on the concentration and velocity profiles and the mass transfer coefficient through the reverse osmosis membrane.

Unlocking the potential of thin-film composite reverse osmosis membrane performance:Insights from mass transfer modeling

Thin-film composite(TFC)reverse osmosis(RO)membranes have attracted considerable attention in water treatment and desalination processes due to their specific separation advantages.Nevertheless,the trade-off effect between water flux and salt rejection poses huge challenges to further improvement in TFC RO membrane performance.Numerous research works have been dedicated to optimizing membrane fabrication and modification for addressing this issue.In the meantime,several reviews summarized these approaches.However,the existing reviews seldom analyzed these methods from a theoretical perspective and thus failed to offer effective optimization directions for the RO process from the root cause.In this review,we first propose a mass transfer model to facilitate a better understanding of the entire process of how water and solute permeate through RO membranes in detail,namely the migration process outside the membrane,the dissolution process on the membrane surface,and the diffusion process within the membrane.Thereafter,the water and salt mass transfer behaviors obtained from model deduction are comprehensively analyzed to provide potential guidelines for alleviating the trade-off effect between water flux and salt rejection in the RO process.Finally,inspired by the theoretical analysis and the accurate identification of existing bottlenecks,several promising strategies for both regulating RO membranes and optimizing operational conditions are proposed to further exploit the potential of RO membrane performance.This review is expected to guide the development of high-performance RO membranes from a mass transfer theory standpoint.

Securing offshore resources development:A mathematical investigation into gas leakage in long-distance flexible pipes

Gas flexible pipes are critical multi-layered equipment for offshore oil and gas development.Under high pressure conditions,small molecular components of natural gas dissolve into the polymer inner liner of the flexible pipes and further diffuse into the annular space,incurring annular pressure build-up and/or production of acidic environment,which poses serious challenges to the structure and integrity of the flexible pipes.Gas permeation in pipes is a complex phenomenon governed by various factors such as internal pressure and temperature,annular structure,external temperature.In a long-distance gas flexible pipe,moreover,gas permeation exhibits non-uniform features,and the gas permeated into the annular space flows along the metal gap.To assess the complex gas transport behavior in long-distance gas flexible pipes,a mathematical model is established in this paper considering the multiphase flow phenomena inside the flexible pipes,the diffusion of gas in the inner liner,and the gas seepage in the annular space under varying permeable properties of the annulus.In addition,the effect of a variable temperature is accounted.A numerical calculation method is accordingly constructed to solve the coupling mathematical equations.The annular permeability was shown to significantly influence the distribution of annular pressure.As permeability increases,the annular pressure tends to become more uniform,and the annular pressure at the wellhead rises more rapidly.After annular pressure relief followed by shut-in,the pressure increase follows a convex function.By simulating the pressure recovery pattern after pressure relief and comparing it with test results,we deduce that the annular permeability lies between 123 and 512 m D.The results help shed light upon assessing the annular pressure in long distance gas flexible pipes and thus ensure the security of gas transport in the emerging development of offshore resources.

Modeling Hydrothermal Transfer Processes in Permafrost Regions of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China

Hydrothermal processes are key components in permafrost dynamics; these processes are integral to global wanning. In this study the coupled heat and mass transfer model for （CoupModel） the soil-plant-atmosphere-system is applied in high-altitude permafrost regions and to model hydrothermal transfer processes in freeze-thaw cycles. Measured meteorological forcing and soil and vegetation properties are used in the CoupModel for the period from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2012 at the Tanggula observation site in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A 24-h time step is used in the model simulation. The results show that the simulated soil temperature and water content, as well as the frozen depth compare well with the measured data. The coefficient of determination （R2） is 0.97 for the mean soil temperature and 0.73 for the mean soil water content, respectively. The simulated soil heat flux at a depth of 0-20 cm is also consistent with the monitored data. An analysis is performed on the simulated hydrothermal transfer processes from the deep soil layer to the upper one during the freezing and thawing period. At the beginning of the freezing period, the water in the deep soil layer moves upward to the freezing front and releases heat during the freezing process. When the soil layer is completely frozen, there are no vertical water ex- changes between the soil layers, and the heat exchange process is controlled by the vertical soil temperature gradient. During the thaw- ing period, the downward heat process becomes more active due to increased incoming shortwave radiation at the ground surface. The melt water is quickly dissolved in the soil, and the soil water movement only changes in the shallow soil layer. Subsequently, the model was used to provide an evaluation of the potential response of the active layer to different scenarios of initial water content and climate warming at the Tanggula site. The results reveal that the soil water content and the organic layer provide protection against active layer deepening in summer, so climate warming will cause the permafrost active layer to become deeoer and permafrost degradation.

Analysis and Measurement of Mass Transfer in Airlift Loop Reactors

Inter-phase mass transfer is important to the design and performance of airlift loop reactors for either chemical or biochemical applications, and a good measurement technique is crucial for studying mass transfer in multiphase systems. According to the model of macro-scale mass transfer in airlift loop reactors, it was proved that the airlift loop reactor can be regarded as a continuous stirred tank reactor for measuring mass transfer coefficient. The calculated mass transfer coefficient on such a basis is different from the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in the macro-scale model and the difference is discussed. To describe the time delay of the probe response to the change of oxygen concentration in the liquid phase, a model taking into account the time constant of response is es-tablished. Sensitivity analysis shows that this model can be used to measure the volumetric mass transfer coefficient. Applying this model to the measurement of volumetric mass transfer coefficient in the loop reactor, results that co-incide with the turbulence theory in the literate were obtained.

A review on single bubble gas–liquid mass transfer

It is common to empirically correlate volumetric mass transfer coefficient kLa for predicting gas–liquid mass transfer in industrial applications,and the investigation of single bubble mass transfer is crucial for a detailed understanding of mass transfer mechanism.In this work,experiments,models and simulations based on the experimental results were highlighted to elucidate the mass transfer between single bubbles and ambient liquid.The experimental setups,measurement methods,the mass transfer of single bubbles in the Newtonian and the nonNewtonian liquid,models derived from the concept of eddy diffusion,the extension of Whitman’s,Higbie’s and Danckwerts’models,or dimensionless numbers,and simulation methods on turbulence,gas–liquid partition methods and mass transfer source term determination are introduced and commented on.Although people have a great knowledge on mass transfer between single bubbles and ambient liquid in single conditions,it is still insufficient when facing complex liquid conditions or some phenomena such as turbulence,contamination or non-Newtonian behavior.Additional studies on single bubbles are required for experiments and models in various liquid conditions in future.

Experimental investigation of dynamic mass transfer during droplet formation using micro-LIF in a coaxial microchannel

The mass transfer of Rhodamine 6G from the droplet to the continuous phase in a coaxial micro-channel is studied using micro-LIF(Laser-Induced Fluorescence).The mass distribution inside droplet is measured and visualized.The experimental results affirm that there exists the internal circulation inside the droplet and it could enhance the convective mass transfer.The stagnant center of vortices is also observed.The extraction fraction could reach 40%80%.In order to establish the mass transfer model,different flow rates of the dispersed and continuous phase are adopted.The high continuous phase flow rate and low dispersed phase flow rate are both beneficial to enhance mass transfer by expediting the internal circulation.A modified mass transfer model is found to calculate the extraction fraction.A good agreement between the model and experiment in various conditions demonstrates that the mass transfer model in this work is reliable and feasible.

Mass transfer analysis for microwave hot in-place recycling of asphalt pavements

In order to realize mass transfer analysis for microwave hot in-place recycling of asphalt pavements, a volume element is established including asphalt mixtures, liquid water and vapor. A mass transfer control model is built by the theory of multiphysics, phase transformation and diffusion. The model contains continuity equation, energy conservation equation, movement equation and vapor diffusion equation. To gain the solution of the mass transfer model, the formulas are simplified to one-dimensional differential equations. And then a mathematical model of boundary conditions is established. The mass transfer velocity and dissipative energy are obtained in different moisture contents through simulation of asphalt pavements recycling. The result indicates that when initial moisture content is certain, mass transfer velocity is almost uniform in depth direction at the same heating time and enertrv absorbed by water i,~ descendino with denletion of moisture.

A computational analysis of the impact of mass transport and shear on three-dimensional stem cell cultures in perfused micro-bioreactors

In this study, Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) is used to investigate and compare the impact of bioreactor parameters(such as its geometry, medium flow-rate, scaffold configuration) on the local transport phenomena and, hence, their impact on human mesenchymal stem cell(hM SC) expansion. The geometric characteristics of the TissueFlex174;(Zyoxel Limited, Oxford, UK) microbioreactor were considered to set up a virtual bioreactor containing alginate(in both slab and bead configuration) scaffolds. The bioreactor and scaffolds were seeded with cells that were modelled as glucose consuming entities. The widely used glucose medium, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium(DMEM), supplied at two inlet flow rates of 25 and 100 μl·h^(-1), was modelled as the fluid phase inside the bioreactors. The investigation, based on applying dimensional analysis to this problem, as well as on detailed three-dimensional transient CFD results, revealed that the default bioreactor design and boundary conditions led to internal and external glucose transport, as well as shear stresses, that are conducive to h MSC growth and expansion. Furthermore, results indicated that the ‘top-inout' design(as opposed to its symmetric counterpart) led to higher shear stress for the same media inlet rate(25 μl·h^(-1)), a feature that can be easily exploited to induce shear-dependent differentiation. These findings further confirm the suitability of CFD as a robust design tool.

在斜向非定常流动中由层流向湍流转变对模型尺度螺旋桨性能和压力脉动的影响

In this paper,after the successful applications to open water propeller performance estimations,the influence of transition sensitive and modified mass transfer models tuned to account for the laminar flow in the prediction of the cavitation inception of marine propulsors is investigated from the point of view of the unsteady functioning and induced pressure pulses.The VP1304(also known as PPTC)test case,for which dedicated data were collected during several workshops,is considered first.After preliminary analyses using RANS,also Detached Eddy Simulations(DES)are included to better account for the vortex dynamics and its influence on pressure pulses.Similarly to what observed in uniform inflow,results show a better agreement with the available measurements of propeller performances and confirm the reliability of the proposed approaches for unsteady,non-cavitating,model scale propeller predictions.The overall cavitation pattern is improved too by the application of the transition sensitive correction to the mass transfer model,but the complex dynamics of bubble cavitation observed in experiments prevents quantitatively better predictions in terms of thrust/torque breakdown and induced pressure pulses levels regardless the use of RANS or DES methods.

Reduction of VOC emissions by a membrane-based gas absorption process

A membrane-based gas absorption （MGA） process was evaluated for the removal of volatile organic compounds （VOCs） based on C6H6/N2 mixture. The absorption of C6H6 from a C6H6/N2 mixture was investigated using a hydrophobic polypropylene hollow fiber membrane contactor and the aqueous solution of N-formyl morpholine （NFM） as absorbent. The effects of various factors on the overall mass transfer coefficient was investigated. The experimental results showed that the removal efficiency of C6H6 could reach 99.5% in present studied system. A mathematical model based on resistance-in-series concept was presented to predict the value of overall mass transfer coefficient. The average error between the predicted and experimental values is 7.9%. In addition, conventional packed columns for VOCs removal was also evaluated for comparison.

Tandem electrocatalysis for CO_(2) reduction to multi-carbons

The rising CO_(2) concentration in the atmosphere due to extensive use of fossil fuels has led to serious climate and environmental issues. One efficient solution is that CO_(2) capture from industrial emissions followed its conversion into value-added chemicals driven by renewable energies. CO_(2) electroreduction(CO_(2) RR) features a green and sustainable fashion towards effective CO_(2) conversion, but still suffers from low multi-carbon selectivity and yield. Considering the pivotal role of CO intermediate in C–C coupling to multi-carbon formation, tandem CO_(2) RR systems with separated CO generation and consumption components could facilitate the coupling between *CO-based intermediates to energy-intensive multi-carbons by manipulating CO diffusion and surface coverage. In this aspect, we comprehensively reviewed the design principles of tandem systems for CO_(2) electroreduction reaction. The chemistry behind the C–C coupling regarding to their distribution and diffusion was initially introduced, which was followed by achievements on tandem architectures, from catalysts, electrodes to systems. Future directions and perspectives on advanced tandem system designs for CO_(2) RR were discussed at the end. This review contributes to the understanding of structureperformance correlations in tandem catalysis and helps guide the effective collection of multi-carbons of high-yield and highselectivity.

On the numerical simulations of vortical cavitating flows around various hydrofoils

This paper reviews the numerical models of various cavitating flows around hydrofoils. Numerical models relating to cavitation flows, including mass transfer models and turbulence models, are summarized at first. Then numerical results and analysis of flow characteristics for the cavitating flows around twisted hydrofoils, truncated hydrofoil and tip leakage are discussed respectively. For mean flow fields, Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes（RANS） simulation associated with a kind of nonlinear turbulence model is found to be an economic and robust numerical approach for different kinds of cavitating flows including cloud cavitation, tip cavitation and tip leakage cavitation. To predict the fluctuations of pressure and velocity, large eddy simulation（LES） and detached eddy simulation（DES） are two effective approaches. Finally, a few open questions are proposed for future research.