Aquaporin-Based Biomimetic Membranes for Low Energy Water Desalination and Separation Applications

The emergence of biomimetic materials developed using nature's inspiration and biological domains can drive a paradigm shift in the design and operation of future-generation materials in separation applications. In recent years, biomimetic membranes have drawn interest of many researchers for water treatment applications. Among the biomimetic membranes, protein-based membranes, specifically those synthesized by aquaporin, have received much attention in recent years due to their high osmotic water permeability and excellent ability to remove small molecules, thereby overcoming the trade-off between the water flux and the contaminant's rejection. The separation efficiency and fouling properties are significantly improved by taking advantage of the strategies evolved in nature. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art aquaporin-based biomimetic membranes (ABMs), mainly focusing on their synthesis, characterization, and performance as selective layer in composite membranes for reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, and forward osmosis for water desalination. Fabrication methods and characterization techniques of ABMs and their performance in water desalination are also reviewed, while the main obstacles for their successful commercial viability in wastewater treatment are provided. The applications of ABMs in various separation processes other than water desalination and their potential market are presented to inspire future researchers in this versatile area.     

Electro-spray of high viscous liquids for producing mono-sized spherical alginate beads

Alginate beads, often used for controlled release of enzymes and drugs, are usually produced by spraying sodium alginate liquid into a gelling agent using mechanical vibration nozzle or air jet. In this work an alternative method of electro-spray was employed to form droplets with desired size from a highly viscous sodium alginate solution using constant DC voltage. The droplets were then cured in a calcium chloride solution. The main objective was to produce mono-sized beads from such a highly viscous and non-Newtonian liquid (1000-5000 mPa s). The effects of nozzle diameter, flow rate and concentration of liquid on the size of the beads were investigated. Among the parameters studied, voltage had a pronounced effect on the size of beads as compared to flow rate zzle diameter and concentration of alginate liquid. The size of beads was reduced to a minimum value with increasing the voltage in the range of 0-10 kV. At the early stages of voltage increase (I.e. Up to about 4 kV), the rate of size reduction was relatively low, while the dripping mode dominated. However, in the middle part of the range of applied voltage, where the rate of size reduction was high (I.e. About 4-7 kV), an unstable transition occurred between dripping and jetting. At the end part of the range (I.e. 7-10 kV) jet mode of spray was observed. Increasing the height of fall of the droplets was found to improve the sphericity of the beads, because of the increased time of flight for the droplets. This was especially identifiable at higher concentrations of the alginate liquid (I.e. 3 w/v%)     

Two-way coupled simulation of a flow laden with metallic particulates in overexpanded TIC nozzle

A simulation of non-reacting dilute gas–solid flow in a truncated ideal contour nozzle with consideration of external stream interactions is performed. The Eulerian–Lagrangian approach involving a two-way momentum and thermal coupling between gas and particles phases is also adopted. Of interests are to investigate the effects of particles diameter and mass flow fraction on the flow pattern, Mach number, pressure and temperature contours and their distributions along the nozzle centerline and wall. The main goal is to determine the separation point quantitatively when the particles characteristics change. Particles sample trajectories are illustrated throughout the flow field and a qualitative discussion on the way that physical properties of the nozzle exit flow and particles trajectories oscillate is prepared. The existence of solid particulates delays the separation prominently in the cases studied. The bigger particles and the higher particles mass flow fractions respectively advance and delay the separation occurrence. The particles trajectories oscillate when they expose to the crisscrossing (or diamond-shape) shock waves generated outside the nozzle to approach the exit jet conditions to the ambient. The simulation code is validated and verified, respectively, against a one-phase 2D convergent–divergent nozzle flow and a two-phase Jet Propulsion Laboratory nozzle flow, and acceptable agreements are achieved.     

Numerical investigation of various nanofluid heat transfers in microchannel under the effect of partial magnetic field: lattice Boltzmann approach

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In the present paper, the effect of the external partial magnetic field is studied on the flow and heat transfer of various nanofluids in a...