| 초록 |
Low-grade heat energy is abundant, but it is not easy to utilize because of its low energy availability. Recently, research using low-grade heat energy has been conducted to increase the energy efficiency of the process. One of these approaches, pressure retarded membrane distillation (PRMD), was proposed. It was designed by combining the operating principles of membrane distillation and pressure-retarded osmosis. In this study, closed-loop PRMD was newly proposed to add the structure of thermo-osmosis energy conversion (TOEC) to enable desalination and power generation simultaneously. Mathematical modeling and analysis were performed through MATLAB. The results revealed that the closed-loop PRMD system required the lowest heat input (35.9 kW) and increased the electrical energy production (39.33 W) to achieve the same water permeation compared to the existing processes. In addition, unlike the TOEC process, water and electrical energy can be produced simultaneously. And the exergy destruction of the closed-loop PRMD was found to be the lowest. Thus, the closed-loop PRMD is a promising solution for desalination and energy harvesting systems from low-grade heat energy. |
