Numerical Study of Transport Membrane Condenser Heat Exchangers
In this study tube bundle Transport Membrane Condenser (TMC) has been studied numerically. The tube walls of TMC based heat exchangers are made of a nano-porous material and has a high membrane selectivity which is able to extract condensate pure water from the flue gas in the presence of other non-condensable gases (i.e. CO2, O2 and N2). Low grade waste heat and water recovery using ceramic membrane, based on separation mechanism, is a promising technology which helps to increase the efficiency of boilers and gas or coal combustors. The effects of inclination angles of tube bundle, different flue gas velocities, and the mass flow rate of water and gas flue have been studied numerically on heat transfer, pressure drop and condensation rates. To assess the capability of single stage TMC heat exchangers in terms of waste heat and water recovery at various inlet conditions, a single phase multi-component model is used. ANSYS-FLUENT is used to simulate the heat and mass transfer inside TMC heat exchangers. The condensation model and related source/sink terms are implemented in the computational setups using appropriate User Defined Functions (UDFs).