Performance of steam ejector with nonequilibrium condensation for multi-effect distillation with thermal vapour compression (MED-TVC) seawater desalination system

Wen, Chuang; Ding, Hongbing; Yang, Yan

Abstract

The single-phase and two-phase flow models are developed and compared for the performance evaluation of a steam ejector for the multi-effect distillation with thermal vapour compression (MED-TVC) seawater desalination system. The results show that a single-phase flow model with ignoring the phase change predicts an unphysical temperature of the steam in the supersonic flow with the minimum value of approximately 122 K, which raises the query of the formation of the ice. The two-phase wet steam model corrects the distribution of the flow parameter by predicting the heat and mass transfer during the phase change. The steam achieves the first nonequilibrium condensation process inside the primary nozzle and another four alternating condensation and re-evaporation processes. The single-phase flow model under-predicts the entropy loss coefficient by approximately 15% than the two-phase wet steam model. The performance comparison is achieved against the single-phase model to present the accuracy of the two-phase model for the steam ejector simulation. This demonstrates that the nonequilibrium condensation is essential for the performance analysis of steam ejectors for MED-TVC seawater desalination system.

Citation

Wen, C., Ding, H., & Yang, Y. (2020). Performance of steam ejector with nonequilibrium condensation for multi-effect distillation with thermal vapour compression (MED-TVC) seawater desalination system. Desalination, 489, Article 114531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2020.114531

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 12, 2020
• Online Publication Date: May 26, 2020
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jan 25, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: May 27, 2021
• Journal: Desalination
• Print ISSN: 0011-9164
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 489
• Article Number: 114531
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2020.114531
• Keywords: Mechanical Engineering; General Materials Science; General Chemistry; General Chemical Engineering; Water Science and Technology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5269134
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0011916420306974
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Performance of steam ejector with nonequilibrium condensation for multi-effect distillation with thermal vapour compression (MED-TVC) seawater desalination system; Journal Title: Desalination; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2020.114531; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.