NMACFoam Software for Ultra High-Pressure Reverse Osmosis Membrane and Module Design and Optimization

NREL has developed NMACFoam software for designing and optimizing ultra-high-pressure osmosis (UHPRO) membranes and modules.

The effect of compaction and embossing of membranes under high pressure is studied using the material point method, so a performance portable material point method solver was developed using the AMReX framework. The impact of feed spacer shape, geometry and spacing on permeate properties is studied using an in-house, variable density from computational fluid dynamics simulations solver using the OpenFOAM framework.

Technologies for extracting fresh water from higher salinity sources is an impending need as traditional sources are shrinking all over the world. UHPRO can be an energy efficient approach for filtering hypersaline, industrial waste, or brackish water, compared to conventional thermal desalination methods.

Challenges associated with robust UHPRO operation include concentration polarization effects, and membrane fracturing and pore-size reduction due to compaction at high pressures. A deeper understanding of membrane structural mechanics will enable support layer designs for durability under high pressures. Improved feed channel spacer designs will improve water recovery at the module scale for high salinity feeds.

Publications

An Unsteady Actuator Line Solver to Enable Adjoint Sensitivity Studies for Wake Steering, Journal of Physics: Conference Series (2020)

Impact of Large-Scale Effects on Mass Transfer and Concentration Polarization in Reverse Osmosis Membrane Systems, Separation and Purification Technology (2022)

Simulation of Reverse Osmosis Membrane Compaction using Material Point Method, NREL Presentation (2023)

Numerical Analysis of Regular Material Point Method and Its Application to Multiphase Flows, NREL Presentation (2023)

Development Team

NREL's UHPRO development team includes Sreejith Appukuttan, Marc Day, and Hariswaran Sitaraman.

Contacts