• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.68-74
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• 2014

해수-담수 염도 차 발전을 위한 압력지연삼투(pressure-retarded osmosis: PRO) 시스템의 나권형(spiral wound) 모듈에서 공급채널과 유도채널 사이의 입구 압력차의 영향이 수치적으로 연구되었다. 그리하여 막을 통한 물과 용질-플럭스들의 변화와 전력이 예측되었다. 막을 통한 물-플럭스의 크기는 두 채널 간 입구 압력차가 증가할수록 x축 방향으로 감소하고 y축 방향으로 증가하였다. 반면에 막을 통한 용질-플럭스의 크기는 반대의 경향을 보였다. 공급채널 내 유체의 농도는 y축 방향으로 크게 증가하였고, 유도채널 내 농도는 x축 방향으로 크게 감소하였다. 본 시스템에서 입구 압력차가 1~11 atm일 때 공급채널 내 유량은 8~13% 가량 감소하였고, 유도채널 내 유량은 그만큼 증가하였다. 전력밀도는 입구 압력 차가 증가할수록 증가하다가 감소하였다.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.113-126
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• 2015

Salinity gradient power (SGP) systems have strong potential to generate sustainable clean electricity for 24 hours. Here, we introduce a solid-salt pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) system using crystal salt powders rather than seawater. Solid salts have advantages such as a small storage volume, controllable solubility, high Gibbs dissolution energy, and a single type of water intake, low pretreatment costs. The power densities with 3 M draw solutions were $11W/m^2$ with exothermic energy and $8.9W/m^2$ without at 35 bar using a HTI FO membrane (water permeability $A=0.375L\;m^{-2}h^{-1}bar^{-1}$). These empirical power densities are ~13% of the theoretical value.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.271-278
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• 2016

Recently, reverse osmosis (RO) is the most common process for seawater desalination. A common problem in both RO and thermal processes is the high energy requirements for seawater desalination. The one energy saving method when utilizing the osmotic power is utilizing pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) process. The PRO process can be used to operate hydro turbines for electrical power production or can be used directly to supplement the energy required for RO desalination system. This study was carried out to evaluate the performance of both single-stage PRO process and two-stage PRO process using RO concentrate for a draw solution and RO permeate for a feed solution. The major results, were found that increase of the draw and feed solution flowrate lead to increase of the production of power density and water permeate. Also, comparison between CDCF and CDDF configuration showed that the CDDF was better than CDCF for stable operation of PRO process. In addition, power density of two-stage PRO was lower than the one of single-stage. However, net power of two-stage PRO was higher than the one of single-stage PRO.

• 폴리머
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.317-322
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• 2015

염분차발전은 해수와 담수가 지속적으로 공급되는 곳에 설치된다면 다른 신재생에너지원에 비해 24시간 지속적으로 전력을 생산할 수 있는 시스템이다. 발전량은 물투과도 및 염배제율에 의해 결정되기 때문에, 세포막에 존재하는 물반투과 단백질인 아쿠아포린 분리막을 이용한 압력지연삼투법을 연구하였다. 염으로는 NaCl과 이온선택성 확인을 위하여 $NaNO_3$이 사용되었다. 생체모방형 아쿠아포린 분리막의 물투과량은 2 M 이하의 농도에서 거의 나타나지 않았다. 더욱이, 3 M 이상의 농도에서 유도용액의 농도에 따른 물투과량 차이 및 이온선택도 또한 크게 나타나지 않았다. 따라서 생체모방형 아쿠아포린 분리막은 압력지연삼투 공정에 적용하기 어렵지만, 만약 이를 극복할 수 있는 구조체가 개발된다면 세포에서의 성능치를 기대할 수 있을 것이다.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.303-310
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• 2017

Pressure retarded osmosis(PRO) has attracted much attention as potential technology to reduce the overall energy consumption for reverse osmosis(RO) desalination. The RO/PRO hybrid process is considered as the most logical next step for future desalination. The PRO process aims to harness the osmotic energy difference of two aqueous solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane. By using the concentrated water(RO brine) discharged from existing RO plants, the PRO process can effectively exploit a greater salinity gradient to reduce the energy cost of processing concentrated water. However, in order to use RO brine as the draw solution, PRO membrane must have high water flux and enough mechanical strength to withstand the high operational pressure. This study investigates the development of a thin film composite PRO membrane and spiral wound module for high power density. Also, the influence of membrane backing layer on the overall power density was studied using the characteristic factors of PRO membranes. Finally, the performance test of an 8-inch spiral wound module was carried out under various operating conditions(i.e. hydraulic pressure, flow rate, temperature). As the flow rate and temperature increased under the same hydraulic pressure, the PRO performance increased due to the growth of water permeability coefficient and osmotic pressure. For a high performance PRO system, in order to optimize the operating conditions, it is highly recommended that the flow pressure be minimized while the flow rate is maintained at a high level.

• 한국유체기계학회 논문집
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.60-65
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• 2015

This paper deals with performance characteristics and efficiencies of Pelton turbine can be applied as one of ERDs (Energy Recovery Devices) of PRO (Pressure Retarded Osmosis) system for desalination. The objective of this study is experimentally estimating the performance of micro-scale Pelton turbine for PRO pilot plant. Especially the performance characteristics with variations of jet nozzle diameter of Pelton turbine are discussed in detail. In order to do this, lab scale test rig of Pelton turbine was made for performance test, which includes water tank, Pelton wheel with buckets, jet nozzle and torque brake and so on. The parameter effects related on Pelton turbine's efficiency were investigated and discussed on the influence of the variations of load and speed ratio.

• 멤브레인
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.352-358
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• 2012

본 연구는 pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) 분리막의 구조적 특성이 미치는 영향에 대하여 수행되었다. 이를 위해, 유사 분자구조를 가지며 자유부피는 차이가 나는 BPS-XX, BisA-XX가 선택되었다. BPS-XX와 BisA-XX는 축중합 반응을 통해 합성되었으며, 또한 더 세분화된 결과를 위해서 20~60 mol.%로 술폰화되었다. 자유부피의 변화에 따른 분리막의 특성을 입증하기 위해서 몇 가지 특성평가가 진행되었다. 연구 결과에서 동일 분자구조에서 자유부피가 증가하면 막의 투과도가 증가하였고, 선택도는 감소하였다. 본 연구의 투과도-선택도 결과에서, 분자의 기본 구조와 자유부피 조절에 따라서, 고 투과도와 선택도를 가진 막을 제조 가능함을 알 수 있었다.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제30권6호
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• pp.755-764
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• 2016

Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) processes can be implemented on a number of water types, using different technologies and achieving various power outcomes. In this study, Sewage facility effluent was used for feed solution of PRO and synthetic NaCl water for draw solution. This study was conducted to investigate effect of water quality of pretreatment on power density and flux decline in PRO process. The results show that organic and particulate foulants have to be removed for more stable operation. Flourescence technique with EEM enables to investigate the chemical properties of aquatic organic matter by extracting spectral information. Humic/fulvic matters and soluble microbial by-products were analyzed as the most affecting factors on the PRO performance. As a result of analyzing the whole system based on the energy consumption of the unit process, specific energy consumption(SEC) of the applicable technology for PRO pre-treatment should be about $0.2kWh/m^3$ or less.

• 한국유체기계학회 논문집
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.61-65
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• 2013

Water is an integral part of energy production because it is used directly in many power generation systems such as hydroelectric power plants and thermoelectric power plants. Water is also used extensively in energy-resource extraction, oil, natural gas, and alternative fuels refining and processing. Recently, osmotic power systems using seawater and freshwater has been also investigated to produce electricity in a sustainable way. This study focused on the use of RO and PRO for the mutual conversion of water and energy. This system allows the production of water from seawater if there is not enough water. It can also generate electricity from salinity gradient of brine water and fresh water if there is not enough energy. To demonstrate the feasibility of this technology, a set of laboratory-scale experiments were carried out using a specially-designed RO/PRO system. The efficiency of energy conversion was theoretically estimated based on the results from the experiments. The results indicated that water and energy could be easily converted using a single device. Nevertheless, a lack of optimum membrane for this purpose was identified as a major barrier for practical application.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.401-408
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• 2016

Desalination is getting more attention as an alternative to solve a global water shortage problem in the future. Especially, a desalination technology is being expected as a new growth engine of Korea's overseas plant business besides one of the solutions of domestic water shortage problem. In the past, a thermal evaporation technology was a predominant method in desalination market, but more than 75% of the current market is hold by a membrane-based reverse osmosis technology because of its lower energy consumption rate for desalination. In the future, it is expected to have more energy efficient desalination process. Accordingly, various processes are being developed to further enhance the desalination energy efficiency. One of the promising technologies is a desalination process combined with Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) process. The PRO technology is able to generate energy by using osmotic pressure of seawater or desalination brine. And the other benefits are that it has no emission of $CO_2$ and the limited impact of external environmental factors. However, it is not commercialized yet because a high-performance PRO membrane and module, and a PRO system optimization technology is not sufficiently developed. In this paper, the recent research direction and progress of the SWRO-PRO hybrid desalination was discussed regarding a PRO membrane and module, an energy recovery system, pre-treatment and system optimization technologies, and so on.