Abstract
With growing demand for fresh water, there has been an increasing interest in energy-efficient desalination technologies. Falling-film-based, multi-effect distillation (MED) systems have been extensively deployed world-wide. The performance of such systems heavily depends on the efficiency of the evaporation process. In the current paper, research on falling-film heat exchangers used in desalination systems, especially MED systems, is critically reviewed to assess the state of the technology. The review includes falling-film evaporation mechanisms, system operation, and scaling issues. Finally, opportunities for further application and areas where more research is needed are identified.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 122407 |
| Journal | International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer |
| Volume | 185 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2022 |
Funding
The first author gratefully acknowledge support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant NO. 51906152 ). This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technology Office Award Number DE-EE0008392. The University of Illinois team is grateful to project manager Rajgopal Vijaykumar for guidance.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy | DE-EE0008392 |
| National Natural Science Foundation of China | 51906152 |
Keywords
- Desalination
- Falling film
- Multi-effect distillation
