A Mathematical Modeling of the Reverse Osmosis Concentration Process of a Glucose Solution

A mathematical modeling of glucose−water separation through a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane was developed to research the membrane’s performance during the mass transfer process. The model was developed by coupling the concentration−polarization (CP) model, which uses o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chenghan Chen, Han Qin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
Series:Processes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/7/5/271
Description
Summary:A mathematical modeling of glucose&#8722;water separation through a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane was developed to research the membrane&#8217;s performance during the mass transfer process. The model was developed by coupling the concentration&#8722;polarization (CP) model, which uses one-dimensional flow assumption, with the irreversible thermodynamic Spiegler&#8722;Kedem model. A nonlinear parameter estimation technique was used to determine the model parameters <i>L<sub>p</sub></i> (hydraulic permeability constant), <i>&#963;</i> (reflection coefficient), and <i>B<sub>s</sub></i> (solute transport coefficient). Experimental data were obtained from the treatment of a pre-treated glucose solution using a laboratory-scale RO system, and studies on the validation of the model using experimental results are presented. The calculated results are consistent with the experimental data. The proposed model describes the RO membrane concentration process and deduces the expression of <i>k</i> (mass transfer coefficient in the CP layer). The verification shows that the expression of <i>k</i> well-describes the reverse osmosis mass transfer of a glucose solution.
ISSN:2227-9717