A Generalized Reverse-Electrodialysis Model Incorporating Both Continuous and Recycle Modes for Energy Harvesting From Salinity Gradient Power

Journal Article

Title: A Generalized Reverse-Electrodialysis Model Incorporating Both Continuous and Recycle Modes for Energy Harvesting From Salinity Gradient Power

Author:

Yan, Z.; Huang, Y.; Jiang, C.; Mei, Y.; Tan, S.; Tang, C.; Hui, S.

Publication Date:

May 10, 2021

Journal:

IEEE Access

Volume:

Pages:

71626-71637

Publisher:

IEEE

Affiliation:

The University of Hong Kong, University of Science and Technology of China, Nanyang Technological University, Imperial College London

Technology:

Salinity Gradient, Reverse Electrodialysis

Collection Method:

Lab Data, Modeling

Engineering:

Performance, Structural

Document Access

Website:

External Link

Attachment:

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Citation

Yan, Z.; Huang, Y.; Jiang, C.; Mei, Y.; Tan, S.; Tang, C.; Hui, S. (2021). A Generalized Reverse-Electrodialysis Model Incorporating Both Continuous and Recycle Modes for Energy Harvesting From Salinity Gradient Power. IEEE Access, 9, 71626-71637. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3078733

Abstract

Salinity gradient power (SGP) derived from sea and fresh water through reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an emerging discipline with huge potential for carbon-free energy harvesting. SGP technology is still in an infant stage and there is a need for accurate mathematical tools to study its energy harvesting process. Previous models assume a constant salinity gradient with a continuous flow of sea water with constant salinity. In the case of recycling used sea water, such assumption is no longer valid because the salinity gradient reduces with operating time. This paper presents a generalized RED model that covers both of the continuous and recycle modes. It combines an improved kinetic battery module (KiBaM) with an electrical circuit module (ECM), for capturing the behaviors of both RED stacks operating in continuous mode (C-mode) and those in recycle mode (R-mode). To intuitively describe the compound effects of salinity variation and concentration polarization on electrical performance of the R-mode RED stack, nonlinear capacity effects (i.e., recovery effect and rate capacity effect) and self-consumed effect are introduced into the proposed model. The derivation and extraction procedures of the proposed model are included. An RED stack prototype with 50 pairs of alternating membranes is constructed for model validation. Various pulsed and constant current discharge experimental tests are performed to validate the accuracy of the proposed model.