Effect of Flow Configurations on the Desalination Performance of Symmetrical Desalination Battery with Intercalation Electrodes

Abstract

A three-dimensional analytical model of symmetrical desalination battery (SDB) is established to investigate the effect of different flow configurations on the desalination performance of SDB from the aspects of pressure drop, salt adsorption capacity (SAC), average salt adsorption rate (ASAR) and energy consumption. In addition, the effects of flow channel width and electrode thickness on the desalination performance are also considered. The simulation results show that the pump energy consumption can be saved by increasing the area difference between the inlet and outlet of the SDB and shortening the distance between them. Reducing the outlet area or setting the inlet at corners of the SDB can obviously alleviate the uneven reaction of active material in the intercalation electrode. Compared with the basic configuration, the SAC, ASAR and energy consumption of the SDBs are increased by placing the inlet and outlet on the electrodes. The SDB with the configuration of intermediate inflow and circumferential outflow obtains the lowest dilution concentration among the five configurations. Increasing the channel width can improve the ASAR but increase the charging energy consumption. The increase of electrode thickness increases the SAC and charging energy consumption of the SDB but decreases the ASAR of the SDB.