Design of a Novel Static Mixer Crystallizer for Inland Brine Management

Costello, Joseph

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Design of a Novel Static Mixer Crystallizer for Inland Brine Management Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/cv43nz36c

Abstract

This research focuses on the evaluation of factors in the design of a static mixer crystallizer toinduce crystallization in supersaturated brine streams. Current brine management systems are unsatisfactory in inland contexts, limiting the economic feasibility of inland desalination. For inland desalination to become feasible it is essential for water recovery to increase and the cost of brine disposal to be reduced. Inducing crystallization in brine works towards both those problems by removing salts, allowing the brine solution to be filtered again. The static mixer investigated in this work has the potential to be energy and cost efficient without the need for chemical additions. To evaluate design parameters, brine solutions are modeled by mixing two solutions together to create a supersaturated solution that is pumped through the static mixer. The resulting turbidities, solids in solution, and calcium ion concentrations are then measured. Factors evaluated include the shape of the 3-d printed mixer inserts, material of mixer inserts, nominal residence time, and diameter and length of the static mixer. The results show that one shape, rotelle, performs worse than the other three shapes, and suggest that one material, polyethylene terephthalate glycol, performs better than the other two evaluated. However, high variability and lack of reproducibility in results limited the conclusions that can be drawn from the data. As a result of this variability, much of the focus of this research is on developing an improved experimental procedure and methodology. Future work using this improved procedure is needed to fully evaluate all the design parameters.

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