Absorption of impinging water droplet in porous stones.

This paper presents an experimental investigation and numerical analysis of the absorption of water droplets impacting porous stones. The absorption process of an impinging droplet is here fully characterized from spreading to evaporation in terms of absorbed mass during droplet depletion and moisture content distribution in a time-resolved manner for three different natural stones. High-speed imaging and neutron radiography are used to quantify moisture absorption in porous stones of varying moisture properties from deposition until depletion. During impact and spreading, the droplet exhibits a dynamic non-wetting behavior. At maximum spreading, the droplet undergoes pinning, resulting into the contact radius remaining constant until droplet depletion. Absorption undergoes two phases: initially, absorption is hindered due a contact resistance attributed to entrapped air; afterwards, a more perfect capillary contact occurs and absorption goes on until depletion, concurrently with evaporation and further redistribution. A finite-element numerical model for isothermal unsaturated moisture transport in porous media captures the phases of mass absorption in good agreement with the experimental data. Droplet spreading and absorption are highly determined by the impact velocity of the droplet, while moisture content redistribution after depletion is much less dependent on impact conditions.

Combined biofouling and scaling in membrane feed channels: a new modeling approach.

A mathematical model was developed for combined fouling due to biofilms and mineral precipitates in membrane feed channels with spacers. Finite element simulation of flow and solute transport in two-dimensional geometries was coupled with a particle-based approach for the development of a composite (cells and crystals) foulant layer. Three fouling scenarios were compared: biofouling only, scaling only and combined fouling. Combined fouling causes a quicker flux decline than the summed flux deterioration when scaling and biofouling act independently. The model results indicate that the presence of biofilms leads to more mineral formation due to: (1) an enhanced degree of saturation for salts next to the membrane and within the biofilm; and (2) more available surface for nucleation to occur. The impact of biofilm in accelerating gypsum precipitation depends on the composition of the feed water (eg the presence of NaCl) and the kinetics of crystal nucleation and growth. Interactions between flow, solute transport and biofilm-induced mineralization are discussed.

Spacer geometry and particle deposition in spiral wound membrane feed channels.

Deposition of microspheres mimicking bacterial cells was studied experimentally and with a numerical model in feed spacer membrane channels, as used in spiral wound nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane systems. In-situ microscopic observations in membrane fouling simulators revealed formation of specific particle deposition patterns for different diamond and ladder feed spacer orientations. A three-dimensional numerical model combining fluid flow with a Lagrangian approach for particle trajectory calculations could describe very well the in-situ observations on particle deposition in flow cells. Feed spacer geometry, positioning and cross-flow velocity sensitively influenced the particle transport and deposition patterns. The deposition patterns were not influenced by permeate production. This combined experimental-modeling approach could be used for feed spacer geometry optimization studies for reduced (bio)fouling.