Desalination 415 (2017) 1–7

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Desalination
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/desal

Theoretical analysis and auxiliary experiment of the optimization of energy MARK

recovery efficiency of a rotary energy recovery device
Jianeng Wua,b,c, Qiang Jinc,⁎, Yue Wanga,b,⁎, Puja Tandonc
a
Chemical Engineering Research Center, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, PR China
b
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Membrane Science and Desalination Technology, Tianjin 300072, PR China
c
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A rotary energy recovery device (RERD), as the energy saving equipment of seawater desalination system, has a
Seawater reverse osmosis great significance on reducing the energy consumption and permeate cost of the system. The high or low energy
Rotary energy recovery device recovery efficiency directly determines whether the engineering application of the RERD can be widely used. In
Energy recovery efficiency this paper, firstly, based on the calculation formula of energy recovery efficiency, the main impact factors of
Leakage
efficiency were analyzed theoretically, including processing capacity, the high and low pressure differentials,
Processing capacity
and the leakage of the device. Secondly, in order to carry out some required auxiliary tests smoothly, a new
Pressure differential
RERD was designed and manufactured, and a complete SWRO desalination system was also established. The
results depicted that the energy recovery efficiency reached the maximum and the corresponding optimal
processing capacity was about 12.15 m3/h when the pressure of the low pressure seawater was 1.0 bar, that of
the high pressure brine was 60.0 bar, and leakage of the device was 0.6 m3/h. Furthermore, when processing
capacity was kept 13 m3/h constant and the efficiency was required to exceed 94%, under the existing operating
conditions, the maximal leakage of the device was needed no more than 0.43 m3/h.

1. Introduction which directly determines whether engineering applications of ERDs

With the rapid development of membrane technology recently,
seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) has become the most promising
seawater desalination technology, which can offer affordable yet
effective solutions to produce suitable and sustainable supplies of
freshwater for local populations, agriculture and industry [1,2]. Energy
recovery device (ERD), as one of the core components of the SWRO
system, has a great significance on reducing the cost of seawater
desalination [3,4]. From past to present, there are many ERDs devel-
oped to recovery pressure energy from the concentrate reject stream
[3,5,6]. These ERDs are divided into two categories: one is centrifugal
energy recovery devices and the other is the isobaric energy recovery
devices [7,8]. Nowadays, there are two general patterns of isobaric
ERDs that employ positive displacement mechanisms, including piston-
type work exchangers like the DWEER and the rotary energy recovery
devices (RERDs) like the PX [9,10]. The RERDs offer the additional
benefits of operational flexibility, installation convenience, ease of
control, in addition to energy savings, which has attracted more and
more public attention [11,12].
It is critical to improve the energy recovery efficiency of ERDs
can be realized and this has been also the focus of the research field. In
recent years, improvement of energy recovery efficiency of ERDs has
been investigated intensely by some experts or authors. R.L. Stover [13]
studied the efficiency losses of the RERD and estimated that about 4%
pressure transfer efficiency was lost to the internal leakage or lubrica-
tion. Later, R.L. Stover made a comparison between the DWEER and PX
device. From his research we could know that the efficiency of the PX
device was higher because the high and low pressure differentials
through the PX device were lower than DWEER though the lubrication
flow required by the two types of the devices was almost identical [13].
Wang [14] made investigations on characteristics and efficiency of a
positive displacement energy recovery device. The result depicted that
pressure of high pressure brine had a positive effect on energy recovery
efficiency of the device and speculated a higher efficiency could be
reached when this kind of ERD was used in brackish water or SWRO
processes. Qi [15] focused on the theoretical investigation of internal
leakage and its effect on the efficiency of a newly developed pilot-scale
fluid switcher-energy recovery device (FS-ERD) for SWRO system. The
results of his work implied that low internal leakage and high retentate
brine pressure brought benefits to achieve high FS-ERD efficiency. The

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail address: tdwy75@tju.edu.cn (Y. Wang); qiang.jin@outlook.com (Q. Jin).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2017.03.038
Received 17 November 2016; Received in revised form 19 February 2017; Accepted 16 March 2017
Available online 10 April 2017
0011-9164/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
J. Wu et al.
leakage can not only reduce permeate flow for a given high pressure
pump flow rate, but also decrease the energy recovery efficiency of the
ERDs, therefore, a lot of efforts have been made to improve the energy
recovery efficiency of the ERDs. Li [16] designed a special structure to
reduce the leakage and abrasion. The experimental result proved that
the novel fully-rotary valve energy recovery device (FRV-ERD) had low
pressure loss and excellent energy recovery efficiency. Xu [17] intro-
duced a hydrostatic bearing structure employed in the RERD in order to
establish a fluid film lubrication environment for the rotation of the
rotor, which can improve the frictional state of the rotor and improve
the energy recovery efficiency. In order to reduce the effect of leakage
across seals, hard mating materials and tight clearances have to be
adopted in the RERD. For instance, Wu [18] employed groove-textured
surfaces of two end covers to improve dynamical seal performance in
membrane desalination system. The experimental results showed that
the energy recovery efficiency of the device with groove-textured
surface was 7.6% higher than that of the untextured. However, few
attempts have been made so far to study the optimization of energy
recovery efficiency of the RERD by theoretical analysis and some
auxiliary experiment.
In the present study, a new RERD was designed specifically and the
layout of the whole reverse osmosis system was also established. The
energy recovery efficiency of the device varied with the change of the
operating variables include the processing capacity, leakage, and even
pressure losses of high pressure and low pressure fluids which is easily
overlooked. Therefore, the objective of this paper is from a new
perspective to analyze how to improve the energy recovery efficiency
for a specific RERD and an established SWRO desalination system.
According to the theoretical analysis and some auxiliary experiment,
the optimal processing capacity was determined and the maximal
leakage was specified for the designed RERD operated in the estab-
lished SWRO system.
2. Rotary energy recovery device (RERD)
2.1. Description of working principle of the RERD
The working principle of the rotary energy recovery device utilizes
the Pascal principle [19]. Fig. 1 provides the schematic representation
of the RERD. As seen in Fig. 1, the core components of the RERD are
composed of the feed water end cover, the rotor, the rotor sleeve and
the concentrate end cover. The feed water end cover contains a port for
incoming low pressure feed water, and a port for outgoing pressurized
seawater. The concentrate end cover likewise embodies two ports
consisting of a high pressure brine inlet and a depressurized brine
Fig. 1. The schematic representation of the RERD.
2
Desalination 415 (2017) 1–7
outlet. The rotor containing axial ducts arranged in a circle is fit into a
rotor sleeve between the feed water end cover and the concentrate end
cover. In addition, the rotor is only rotating part of the device.
In the operation process of the device, the high pressure brine
directly pressurizes the low pressure seawater and drives the pressur-
ized seawater to be discharged from the pressurized seawater outlet,
this is called “pressurization process”. As the rotor continues to rotate,
the rotor ducts enter the sealing area which prevents the ducts from
streaming each other and at this time the fluid is sealed and the
pressure remains constant. The rotor continues to rotate, the low
pressure seawater enters the low pressure side and drives the depres-
surized brine discharged from the depressurized brine outlet, which is
called “depressurization process”. Through the continuous rotation of
the rotor, the rotor ducts alternate from the high pressure side-sealing
area-low pressure side, to achieve continuous fluid pressure exchange
process.
2.2. Theoretical calculation of rotor inflow height (L)
In order to make some required auxiliary experiment done
smoothly, a new RERD was designed by referring to the relevant
mechanical design manual. Fig. 2 illustrates through a picture of the
overall outline of the device.
In the designing process, rotor inflow height (L) needs to be taken
into account. If the rotor inflow height is too small, the device will not
be able to carry out effectively pressure exchange. Likewise, if the
height is too large, the volumetric efficiency of the device will be
reduced. Fig. 3 displays the coverage diagram of the rotor duct and the
end plate sumps. The theoretical calculation of rotor inflow height was
performed here.
Herein the rated processing capacity of the device is Q (m3/h), the
period of rotation of the rotor is T (s) and the rotation speed of the rotor
is n (r/min). Then the calculated value of period is T = 60/n.
It is assumed that the time from the beginning of one duct of the
rotor into the end plate sump to the ending of completely transferring
out the sump is t (s). The following formula will be held.
α+β α + β 60
t= T=
360° 360° n (2-1)
α the angle of the end plate sump occupied in the center;
β the angle of the rotor duct occupied in the center;
Let the average velocity of the fluid into a single duct be v (m/s),
then:
J. Wu et al. Desalination 415 (2017) 1–7

N the number of rotor ducts covered by the sump;

Setting the fluid displacement in the rotor duct in a cycle is S (m),
then:

S = v⋅t (2-3)

Substituting Eq. (2-1) and Eq. (2-2) into Eq. (2-3), then yields:

Q α+β
S=
60nNπr 2 360° (2-4)

Here it is assumed that the minimum value of the inflow length (L)
is equal to the displacement S. The basic parameters of the device are:
Q = 15 m3/h; n = 500 rpm; N = 3; r = 0.015 m; α = 129 °; β = 39 °.
The values are substituted into the Eq. (2-4) to get L.

L = 0.11 m (2-5)

3. Experimental platform of SWRO system

Fig. 2. Picture of the experimental device.
The performances of the RERD in real SWRO system were evaluated
so as to bring it much closer to the practical application of engineering.
Here a new SWRO desalination system was established as seen in Fig. 4.
First, the low pressure feed seawater was pumped from tank 1 by a feed
pump, and filtered in order to remove solid particles by a filter and
transported to the high pressure pump and rotary energy recovery
device (RERD). The part of feed seawater pressurized by a high pressure
pump, combining with the pressurized seawater supplied by a booster
pump, commonly served as the RO membrane feed seawater. Some part
of it was discharged into the RERD and exchanged pressure with the
high pressure concentrate. A bypass valve was provided in the high
pressure pump outlet pipe for regulating the pressure of the RO
membrane feed seawater and a rotameter was used to measure the
bypass flow in real time. In order to prevent the occurrence of safety
incidents when high pressure pump inlet pressure was too low and the
outlet pressure was too high, the low pressure protection (PSL) and high
pressure protection (PSH) switches were installed on the high pressure
pump inlet and outlet pipelines, respectively. The import and export
pipelines in the SWRO desalination system and RERD were set up with
pressure transmitters and flow transmitters, to achieve a comprehensive
monitoring of operating parameters of the RERD. In addition, differ-
Fig. 3. Coverage diagram of the rotor duct and the end plate sumps.
ential pressure transmitter PDL was installed on the low pressure inlet
and low pressure outlet pipelines of the RERD. Likewise, differential
Q
v= pressure transmitter PDH was at the high pressure inlet and pressurized
3600N⋅πr 2 (2-2)
outlet pipelines of the RERD. Both of them were used to monitor the
pressure losses of the low pressure fluid and that of the high pressure
r radius of the rotor duct, m; fluid flowing through the RERD respectively.

Fig. 4. Diagram of the experimental platform.

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J. Wu et al.
4. Theoretical analysis on energy recovery efficiency of RERD
4.1. The leakage
Leakage also sometimes called lubrication flow occurs when high
pressure brine leaks to the lower pressure feed flow inside the RERD
[10]. The larger the leakage is, the lower the energy recovery efficiency
of the RERD is. It is easily understood that the increment of leakage
means that the flow of high pressure brine into the RERD will decrease
and this part of the fluid could not be effectively used for the pressure
exchanging process, resulting in the decrease of efficiency. In this
paper, the leakage is defined according to Eq. (4-1):
Q L = Q bi − Q so (4-1)
Where QL is the leakage occurred inside the RERD, Qbi, the flow rate of
the high pressure brine, and Qso, the flow rate of the pressurized
seawater.
4.2. High pressure differential and low pressure differential
Literally, high pressure differential (PTdH) is the pressure loss
between the high pressure brine inlet and the pressurized seawater
outlet. And likewise, low pressure differential (PTdL) is the pressure
loss between the low pressure feed seawater inlet and the depressurized
brine outlet. The pressure losses of the high and low pressure fluids are
mainly affected by the structure of the device. Different inflow
structures of the RERD will result in different differential pressure,
which also affects the energy recovery efficiency.
4.3. The energy recovery efficiency
As shown above, a large leakage will lead to a low energy recovery
efficiency. In this paper, energy recovery efficiency of the RERD is
calculated according to Eq. (4-2):
Pso × Q so + Pbo × Q bo
η=
Psi × Q si + Pbi × Q bi (4-2)
Where Qso is the flow rate of the pressurized seawater, Pso, pressure of
the pressurized seawater, Qbo, flow rate of depressurized brine, Pbo,
pressure of the depressurized brine, Qsi, flow rate of low pressure
seawater, Psi, pressure of low pressure seawater, Qbi, flow rate of high
pressure brine, Pbi, pressure of high pressure brine.
4.4. Theoretical analysis
The processing capacity of the device will affect the energy recovery
efficiency of the RERD as well as the high and low pressure differential
of the device. So theoretical analysis on energy recovery efficiency of
RERD has been made based on the formula of the energy recovery
efficiency.
According to the working conditions about RERD running stably
coupled with the SWRO desalination system, here we called flow
matching principle and thus the following equation can be drawn:
Q si = Q bi. (4-3)
Following the mass balance equation of the four fluid flows
including two in -flows and two out-flows of the RERD, it can be
acquired:
Q bo = Q si + Q L (4-4)
Q so = Q bi − Q L (4-5)
Substituting the values of Eqs. (4-3), (4-4), and (4-5) into the Eq. (4-
2), then a new equation can be obtained.
Pso + Pbo (P − Pbo)⋅Q L
η= − so
Psi + Pbi (Psi + Pbi)⋅Q bi (4-6)
4
Desalination 415 (2017) 1–7
In order to explore the pressure losses of high and low pressure fluid
effecting on the energy recovery efficiency of the device conveniently,
here we assumed that the following two equations hold, which is
consistent with the definition.
Pso = Pbi−PTdH (4-7)
Pbo = Psi−PTdL (4-8)
Substituting Eq. (4-7) and Eq.(4-8) into Eq. (4-6), we can get Eq. (4-
9):
(Pbi − Psi)⋅Q L (Q bi − Q L)⋅PTdH + (Q bi + Q L)⋅PTdL
η=1− −
(Psi + Pbi)⋅Q bi (Psi + Pbi)⋅Q bi (4-9)
5. Results and discussion
5.1. The influence of processing capacity on the leakage of the RERD
As we all know, feed temperature and concentration of the seawater
are essential for the characteristics of the RO brine which mainly
contributes to the separation performance of the RO membrane. Based
on the solute diffusion model, the increase of seawater temperature will
improve the separation performance of the RO membrane. In order to
avoid or reduce the effect of feed seawater temperature, a temperature
sensor was installed on the feed pipeline to monitor the seawater
temperature in real time. For ensuring the accuracy of the experimental
results, when the feed water temperature increased to 2 °C and the test
was stopped immediately, after lowering the temperature, follow-up
experiment would be carried out. In addition, the concentration of the
feed water was also considered in this experiment. Due to the fact that
the raw feed seawater was not easy to obtain, the sodium chloride
solution was used as artificial seawater in our experiment. Different
mass fraction of the sodium chloride solution of 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0%,
3.5%, and 4.0% were prepared respectively by adding deionized water
and tested the corresponding values of conductivity. Fitting curve of
sodium chloride and its conductivity under different concentrations was
plotted. When the mass fraction of sodium chloride solution was in the
range of 2.0%–4.0%, the conductivity of brine was linear with the mass
fraction of sodium chloride solution, which provided some guidance for
the allocation of large volume of artificial seawater. The artificial
seawater temperature was 18.6 °C during this experiment process for
the formulation of fitting curve, which indicated that the equation of
the fitting curve is y = 5.6474 + 14.420 ∗ x (Where x represents the
mass fraction of sodium chloride solution (%), y indicates its con-
ductivity (μs/cm)). In this experiment, we took the mass fraction of
3.2% sodium chloride solution as the experimental object, the corre-
sponding conductivity was 51.8 μs/cm. A conductivity meter, monitor-
ing the feed seawater conductivity in real time, was adopted to
guarantee the accuracy of the experimental results by controlling the
fluctuation of feed seawater conductivity.
The influence of processing capacity on the leakage of the RERD was
tested by keeping the operating pressure constant. Fig. 5 showed that
the leakage of the device follows a trend of rising with the processing
capacity changing from 9 m3/h to 16 m3/h. But the increasing tendency
was not obvious and the leakage obtained was nearly 0.6 m3/h.
Therefore, the result further indicated that the processing capacity of
the device had little effect on the leakage and even can be neglected in
some extent at the operating pressure of 60 bar.
5.2. The influence of processing capacity on the energy recovery efficiency
of the RERD
As can also be seen from the Eq. (4-9), pressure differentials of the
high and low pressure fluids had negative effects on the energy
recovery efficiency of the device when other parameters were kept
constant, including the pressures of the high pressure brine and the low
J. Wu et al. Desalination 415 (2017) 1–7

Equation y = a + b*x
Weight No Weighting
Residual Sum of 0.00374
Squares
Pearson's r 0.99631
Adj. R-Square 0.9914
Value Standard Error
Intercept -0.70155 0.04896
B
Slope 0.10952 0.00385

Fig. 5. Variation of the leakage with the change of the processing capacity of the device.
Fig. 7. Fitting curve of PTdL under different processing capacities of the device.
pressure seawater, the processing capacity and leakage of the device.
Considering the influence of the processing capacity on the pressure
losses of the high and low pressure fluids, the relationships between the Equation y = a + b*x
pressure losses of the high and low pressure fluids and the processing Adj. R-Square 0.9947
Value Standard Error
capacity of the device were established by some relevant experiments.
C Intercept -0.73226 0.04466
The experiments were carried out with the established SWRO desalina- C Slope 0.12738 0.00351
tion system in our laboratory. Fig. 6 depicted the picture of the
experiment platform. During the experiment process, the operating
pressure was kept 60.0 bar constant, which ensured that the leakage of
the device remained basically 0.6 m3/h. The relevant experimental data
of PTdL and PTdH under different processing capacities of the device
were obtained and analyzed.
In order to explore their relationships, linear fitting method was
used. Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 depicted linear fitting for PTdL and PTdH under
different processing capacities of the device, respectively. It could be
seen from Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 that low pressure differential (PTdL)
increased with the increasing of the processing capacity of the device as
well as with that of high pressure differential (PTdH). The reason for
the analysis was mainly because the increase of the processing capacity
of the device made the inlet flow velocity of the device become larger
and the friction resistance increased correspondingly, contributing to Fig. 8. Fitting curve of PTdH under different processing capacities of the device.
the increment of the pressure differentials of the high and low pressure
fluids of the device consequently. It also could be seen that the fitting Eq. (4-10) and Eq. (4-11) are the fitting expressions for the pressure
correlation coefficients R2 were 0.9914 and 0.9947, respectively, which losses of low pressure fluid and high pressure fluid, respectively. It is
indicated that there existed high correlations between them and noteworthy that these two equations were set up in a certain range.
indirectly pointed out this linear fitting was reasonable to a certain When the processing capacity of the device was too small, these
extent. equations would lose its meaning. However, this paper focused on
large processing capacity, so these equations still can be used to express
their relationships.
PTdL=0.11Q bi − 0.70 (4-10)

PTdH=0.13Q bi − 0.73 (4-11)

Substituting Eq. (4-10) and Eq. (4-11) into Eq. (4-9) and Eq. (4-12)
can be available. Then taking the first and second derivatives of Qbi for
Eq. (4-12), Eq. (4-13) and Eq. (4-14) will be obtained.
(1.43 + 0.02Q L ) 0.24Q bi (P − Psi + 0.03)⋅Q L
η=1+ − − bi
Psi + Pbi Psi + Pbi (Psi + Pbi)⋅Q bi (4-12)

dη −0.24 (P − Psi + 0.03)⋅Q L

= + bi
dQ bi Psi + Pbi (Psi + Pbi)⋅Q bi 2 (4-13)

d 2η −2(Pbi − Psi + 0.03)⋅Q L

=
dQ bi 2 (Psi + Pbi)⋅Q bi 3 (4-14)
When the Eq. (4-13) is equal to zero, then we can get Eq. (4-15).
(Pbi − Psi + 0.03)⋅Q L
Q mix =
Fig. 6. Picture of the experiment platform. 0.24 (4-15)

5
J. Wu et al.
As can be seen from the Eq. (4-14), the value of the equation was
less than zero constantly under this operating condition. Combining the
Eq. (4-13) and by analyzing mathematically, the following conclusion
can be drawn: when leakage, the pressure of high pressure brine and
low pressure seawater of the device were kept constant, the energy
recovery efficiency of the device increased gradually with increasing
the processing capacity of the device, and then decreased gradually
after reaching its maximum. Therefore, it is possible to improve the
efficiency of the device by increasing the processing capacity of the
device. However, the increment in the processing capacity of the device
could cause the differential pressure of the high and low pressure fluid
of the device to become larger. Conversely, it will result in a reduction
in the energy recovery efficiency of the device. Considering these two
aspects, it could be also concluded that there existed an optimal value
of the processing capacity of the device corresponding to the highest
energy recovery efficiency of the device. Eq. (4-15) explained the
calculation method. When the pressure of the low pressure seawater
was 1.0 bar, the pressure of the high pressure brine was 60.0 bar and
the leakage was 0.6 m3/h, the optimal value of the processing capacity
was about 12.15 m3/h corresponding to the maximum of energy
recovery efficiency of the device.
5.3. The influence of the leakage (QL) on the energy recovery efficiency of
the RERD
It could be anticipated from the above description that the leakage
of the device had an important effect on the energy recovery efficiency
of the RERD. So research in this aspect was performed under the
experimental platform of the established SWRO system. The relevant
data were acquired experimentally. When keeping the processing
capacity Qbi = 12 m3/h constant, the corresponding required values
were Psi = 0.89 bar, Pbi = 59.6 bar, Pso = 58.8 bar, Pbo = 0.16 bar.
The relationship between energy recovery efficiency (η1) and leakage
(QL) was determined according to Eq. (4-6) when the processing
capacity of the device was 12 m3/h.
η1 = 0.976 − 0.081Q L (4-16)
As can be seen from Eq. (4-16), the energy recovery efficiency of the
RERD continuously reduced from 0.968 to 0.927 as leakage of the
device increased from 0.1 m3/h to 0.6 m3/h. So if energy recovery
efficiency of the device is to be greater than 94%, the leakage of the
device cannot be more than 0.4 m3/h, in view of the 12 m3/h
processing capacity of the device.
At the condition of the processing capacity of 16 m3/h, the effect of
the leakage QL on the energy recovery efficiency of the device was
discussed in order to explore the maximal leakage required when the
energy recovery efficiency was more than 94%. As same as the above,
the relevant parameters of the device can be expressed as Qbi = 16 m3/
h, Psi = 1.37 bar, Pbi = 59.8 bar, Pso = 58.9 bar, Pbo = 0.19 bar,
Substituting these data into Eq. (4-6) and simplifying it, then we will
get Eq. (4-17).
η2 = 0.96 − 0.06Q L (4-17)
It could be drawn from Eq. (4-17) that when the energy recovery
efficiency of the device was more than 94%, the corresponding leakage
of the device could not exceed 0.3 m3/h when the processing capacity
of the device was 16 m3/h. Likewise, the relationships of the leakage QL
and the energy recovery efficiency of the device, under the conditions
of the processing capacities of 13 m3/h, 14 m3/h and 15 m3/h, were
established respectively and expressed as:
η3 = 0.972 − 0.074Q L (4-18)
η4 = 0.967 − 0.069Q L (4-19)
η5 = 0.963 − 0.064Q L (4-20)
The relationship between the energy recovery efficiency and the
6
Desalination 415 (2017) 1–7
Fig. 9. Energy recovery efficiency with the change of leakage of the device under
different processing capacities.
leakage of the device under different processing capacities was plotted
as shown in Fig. 9.
Fig. 9 showed the energy recovery efficiency of the device decreased
linearly with the increase of the leakage when the processing capacity
changed from 12 m3/h to 16 m3/h. In other words, when the leakage
was kept same, the highest efficiency of the device corresponds to the
processing capacity of 12 m3/h while the lowest efficiency corresponds
to the processing capacity of 16 m3/h. From the Eq. (4-12) it can be
calculated that the optimal processing capacity corresponds to the
highest energy recovery efficiency of 92.8%. On the other hand, from
the Eq. (4-16) and Eq. (4-17) it can be obtained that the processing
capacity of 12 m3/h corresponds to the efficiency of 92.7% and that of
16 m3/h corresponds to the efficiency of 92.4%. This can be explained
reasonably that when the processing capacity of the device was larger
than the range of optimal processing capacity, the increment of
processing capacity will lead to the decrease of efficiency under the
same leakage of the device condition. This was in good agreement with
the previous theoretical analysis. Therefore, when processing capacity
of the device was 13 m3/h and the value of the energy recovery
efficiency was more than 94%, under the existing operating conditions,
the leakage of the device was required no more than 0.43 m3/h.
5.4. Comprehensive analysis of the influence of these three factors on the
RERD
The leakage of the device basically maintained 0.6 m3/h when the
operating pressure was 60 bar, which indicated that it is impossible for
the efficiency of the specific device to reach 94% only by adjusting the
processing capacities of the device under existing conditions.
Furthermore, for the specific device, the structure of the inflow part
of the device cannot be changed anymore, which indicated that the
pressure differentials of high and low pressure fluids were basically
unchanged as long as the processing capacity of the device remained
invariant. So in the designing process of the RERD's structure, the
structure of the inflow part of the device should be optimized to reduce
the pressure losses through CFD simulation. According to the research
results of the influence of the leakage on the efficiency of the RERD, it is
necessary to further reduce the leakage of the device to meet the
requirements of the device's efficiency, which could be achieved by
further reducing the mating clearance of the two end covers [18] or by
using hydrostatic bearing technology [17,20,21]. In addition, the
research on improving the efficiency of the RERD by employing
hydrostatic bearing technology is in the process although there is no
J. Wu et al.
detail here.
6. Conclusions
In this paper, a theoretical analysis was introduced for the optimi-
zation of energy recovery efficiency and some auxiliary experiment was
completed in order to determine the optimal processing capacity for a
specific RERD and the established SWRO system.
On the one hand, the results indicated that there exists an optimal
value between the processing capacity of the device and the energy
recovery efficiency. Increasing the processing capacity of the device can
be a good selection to improve the efficiency, but it should be noted
that if the processing capacity is increased blindly, the energy recovery
efficiency will also be lowered. For this new designed RERD, with the
processing capacity of 15 m3/h, operated in the established SWRO
experimental platform, the maximal processing capacity was obtained
to be 12.15 m3/h corresponding to the optimal value of efficiency of the
device.
On the other hand, considering the influence of the leakage on the
energy recovery efficiency of the RERD, the maximal leakage was
specified to satisfy the requirement of energy recovery efficiency when
the processing capacity was kept invariant. The results showed that the
leakage has a negative relationship with efficiency of the RERD. When
processing capacity of the device was 13 m3/h and the requirement of
the energy recovery efficiency was more than 94%, under the existing
operating conditions, the largest leakage of the device was required no
more than 0.43 m3/h.
This research work provides not only a good way for optimizing the
energy recovery efficiency of the specific RERDs, but also a theoretical
reference for reasonable experiment operating. At the same time,
hydrostatic bearing technology for better improving the efficiency of
the RERD to satisfy the needs of SWRO desalination plants is expected
in the future work.
Abbreviations and symbols
ERD energy recovery device
RERD rotary energy recovery device
SWRO seawater reverse osmosis
DWEER Double Work Exchanger
PX pressure exchanger
FS-ERD fluid switcher-energy recovery device
FRV-ERD fully-rotary valve energy recovery device
L rotor inflow height, m
Q the rated processing capacity of the device, m3/h
T the period of rotation of the rotor, s
n the rotation speed of the rotor, r/min
t the time from the beginning of one duct of the rotor into the
end plate sump to the ending of completely transferring out
the sump, s
α the angle of the end plate sump occupied in the center
β the angle of the rotor duct occupied in the center
v the average velocity of the fluid into a single duct, m/s
r radius of the rotor duct, m
N the number of rotor ducts covered by the sump
S the fluid displacement in the rotor duct, m
PTdH high pressure differential, bar
PTdL low pressure differential, bar
Psi pressure of the feed seawater, bar
Pso pressure of the pressurized seawater, bar
Desalination 415 (2017) 1–7
Pbi pressure of the high pressure brine, bar
Pbo pressure of the depressurized brine, bar
Qsi flow rate of the low seawater, m3/h
Qso flow rate of the pressurized seawater, m3/h
Qbi flow rate of the high pressure brine, m3/h
Qbo flow rate of the depressurized brine, m3/h
Qmix the optimal processing capacity of the device, m3/h
QL the leakage, m3/h
η the energy recovery efficiency, %
Acknowledgments
This study is supported by Tianjin Marine Economy & Domain
Demonstration Program (CXSF2014-10) and Tianjin Key Technologies
R & D Program (No. 15ZCZDSF00050).
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