Tracing the impact of stack configuration on interface resistances in reverse electrodialysis by in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

doi:10.1007/s11783-021-1480-9

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (4) : 46 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1480-9

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Tracing the impact of stack configuration on interface resistances in reverse electrodialysis by in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Wenjuan Zhang¹(

), Bo Han², Ramato Ashu Tufa³, Chuyang Tang⁴, Xunuo Liu¹, Ge Zhang¹, Jing Chang¹(

), Rui Zhang¹, Rong Mu¹, Caihong Liu⁵, Dan Song², Junjing Li⁶, Jun Ma², Yufeng Zhang¹

¹. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Aquatic Science and Technology, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, China
². State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
³. Department of Inorganic Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technicka 5, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic
⁴. Department of Civil Engineering, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
⁵. Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), School of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
⁶. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, China

Download: PDF(3466 KB) HTML
Export: BibTeX | EndNote | Reference Manager | ProCite | RefWorks

Abstract

• RED performance and stack resistance were studied by EIS and LSV.

• Interface resistance were discriminated from Ohmic resistance by EIS.

• Impacts of spacer shadow effect and concentration polarization were analyzed.

• Ionic short current reduced the power density for more cell pairs.

• The results enabled to predict RED performance with different configurations.

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an emerging membrane-based technology for the production of renewable energy from mixing waters with different salinities. Herein, the impact of the stack configuration on the Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances as well as the performance of RED were systematically studied by using in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Three different parameters (membrane type, number of cell pairs and spacer design) were controlled. The Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances were evaluated for RED stacks equipped with two types of commercial membranes (Type I and Type II) supplied by Fujifilm Manufacturing Europe B.V: Type I Fuji membranes displayed higher Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances than Type II membranes, which was mainly attributed to the difference in fixed charge density. The output power of the stack was observed to decrease with the increasing number of cell pairs mainly due to the increase in ionic shortcut currents. With the reduction in spacer thickness from 750 to 200 µm, the permselectivity of membranes in the stack decreased from 0.86 to 0.79 whereas the energy efficiency losses increased from 31% to 49%. Overall, the output of the present study provides a basis for understanding the impact of stack design on internal losses during the scaling-up of RED.

Keywords Reverse electrodialysis Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy Concentration polarization Spacer shadow effect

Corresponding Author(s): Wenjuan Zhang,Jing Chang

Issue Date: 11 August 2021

Cite this article:

Wenjuan Zhang,Bo Han,Ramato Ashu Tufa, et al. Tracing the impact of stack configuration on interface resistances in reverse electrodialysis by in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(4): 46.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-021-1480-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2022/V16/I4/46

Tab.1 Configurations of the RED stack with a different type of membranes and spacers, and a varying of cell pairs

Fig.1 (a) Voltage-current, (b) open circuit voltage, (c) power density curves and (d) maximum power density for the RED stack equipped with Type I and Type II ion exchange membranes; operating conditions: 10 cell pairs, flow velocity of 0.66 cm/s, spacer type of 07-465/49.

Fig.2 The area resistance per cell of (a) Ohmic resistance (R_Ohmic) and stack resistance obtained from EIS measurements (R_S-EIS) as well as the stack resistance from LSV (R_S-LSV), and (b) the electrical double layer resistance (R_edl) and diffusion boundary layer resistance (R_dbl) of the RED stack with two types of ion exchange membranes. Operating conditions: 10 membrane cell pairs, flow velocity of 0.66 cm/s, 07-465/49 spacers.

Fig.3 (a) Voltage and (b) power density as a function of current, and (c) open circuit voltage and (d) maximum power density as a function of the number of cell pairs measured by LSV; operating conditions: flow velocity of 0.66 cm/s, 07-465/49 spacer, Type II membranes.

Fig.4 The non-Ohmic resistance (R_non-Ohmic), electrical double layer resistance (R_edl) and diffusion boundary layer resistance (R_dbl) of the RED stack as a function of the number of cell pairs. Operating conditions: flow velocity of 0.66 cm/s, 07-465/49 spacer and Type II membranes.

Fig.5 The morphology of spacers. (a) 07-1160/56; (b) 07-465/49; (c) 07-265/53. Microscopic images taken at a magnification of 20. The largest opening size is for 07-1160/56 and the smallest for 07-265/53 with 07-465/49 in the middle.

Fig.6 Influences of spacer properties: (a) current-voltage curves, (b) OCV vs spacer type, (c) power curves, (d) maximum power density vs spacer type. Operating conditions: Type II membranes (5 cell pairs), flow velocity of 0.66 cm/s, HCC of 0.5 mol/L, and LCC of 0.05 mol/L.

Fig.7 Area resistance per cell for stack resistance obtained by EIS (R_S-EIS) and LSV (R_S-LSV), Ohmic resistance (R_Ohmic), electrical double layer resistance (R_edl) and diffusion boundary layer resistance (R_dbl) with different spacers. Operating conditions: Type II membranes (5 cell pairs), flow velocity of 0.66 cm/s, HCC of 0.5 mol/L and LCC of 0.05 mol/L.

Fig.8 (a) Average apparent permselectivity of membranes in the RED stack (P_m) and (b) the energy efficiency loss (EEL) as a function of membrane type; (c) P_m and EEL as a function of number of cell pairs; (d) P_m and EEL as a function of spacer type.

1	S Bason, Y Oren, V Freger (2007). Characterization of ion transport in thin films using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy: II: Examination of the polyamide layer of RO membranes. Journal of Membrane Science, 302(1–2): 10–19 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2007.05.007
2	J Cen, M Vukas, G Barton, J Kavanagh, H G L Coster (2015). Real time fouling monitoring with Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy. Journal of Membrane Science, 484: 133–139 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.014
3	A Daniilidis, D A Vermaas, R Herber, K Nijmeijer (2014). Experimentally obtainable energy from mixing river water, seawater or brines with reverse electrodialysis. Renewable Energy, 64: 123–131 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2013.11.001
4	P Długołęcki, B Anet, S J Metz, K Nijmeijer, M Wessling (2010a). Transport limitations in ion exchange membranes at low salt concentrations. Journal of Membrane Science, 346(1): 163–171 doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2009.09.033
5	P Dlugolecki, J Dabrowska, K Nijmeijer, M Wessling (2010). Ion conductive spacers for increased power generation in reverse electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 347(1–2): 101–107 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2009.10.011
6	P Długołeçki, A Gambier, K Nijmeijer, M Wessling (2009). Practical potential of reverse electrodialysis as process for sustainable energy generation. Environmental Science & Technology, 43(17): 6888–6894 doi:10.1021/es9009635 pmid: 19764265
7	P Długołęcki, K Nymeijer, S Metz, M Wessling (2008). Current status of ion exchange membranes for power generation from salinity gradients. Journal of Membrane Science, 319(1–2): 214–222 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2008.03.037
8	P Długołęcki, P Ogonowski, S J Metz, M Saakes, K Nijmeijer, M Wessling (2010b). On the resistances of membrane, diffusion boundary layer and double layer in ion exchange membrane transport. Journal of Membrane Science, 349(1–2): 369–379 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2009.11.069
9	E Fontananova, D Messana, R A Tufa, I Nicotera, V Kosma, E Curcio, W Van Baak, E Drioli, G Di Profio (2017). Effect of solution concentration and composition on the electrochemical properties of ion exchange membranes for energy conversion. Journal of Power Sources, 340: 282–293 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.11.075
10	H Gao, B Zhang, X Tong, Y Chen (2018). Monovalent-anion selective and antifouling polyelectrolytes multilayer anion exchange membrane for reverse electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 567: 68–75 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2018.09.035
11	E Güler , W Van Baak, M Saakes, K Nijmeijer (2014). Monovalent-ion-selective membranes for reverse electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 455: 254–270 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2013.12.054
12	L Gurreri, A Tamburini, A Cipollina, G Micale, M Ciofalo (2013). CFD Simulation of Mass Transfer Phenomena in Spacer Filled Channels for Reverse Electrodialysis Applications. Icheap-11: 11th International Conference on Chemical and Process Engineering, Pts 1–4, 32: 1879–1884 doi: 10.3303/cet1332314
13	J S Ho, J H Low, L N Sim, R D Webster, S A Rice, A G Fane, H G L Coster (2016). In-situ monitoring of biofouling on reverse osmosis membranes: Detection and mechanistic study using electrical impedance spectroscopy. Journal of Membrane Science, 518: 229–242 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.06.043
14	Y A C Jande, W S Kim (2014). Integrating reverse electrodialysis with constant current operating capacitive deionization. Journal of Environmental Management, 146: 463–469 doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.07.039
15	Y Jing, B P Chaplin (2016). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy study of membrane fouling characterization at a conductive sub-stoichiometric TiO2 reactive electrochemical membrane: Transmission line model development. Journal of Membrane Science, 511: 238–249 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.03.032
16	J Kim, S J Kim, D K Kim (2013). Energy harvesting from salinity gradient by reverse electrodialysis with anodic alumina nanopores. Energy, 51: 413–421 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.01.019
17	S Mehdizadeh, M Yasukawa, T Abo, Y Kakihana, M Higa (2019). Effect of spacer geometry on membrane and solution compartment resistances in reverse electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 572: 271–280 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2018.09.051
18	R E Pattle (1954). Production of electric power by mixing fresh and salt water in the hydroelectric pile. Nature, 174(4431): 660 https://doi.org/10.1038/174660a0
19	J W Post, H V M Hamelers, C J N Buisman (2009). Influence of multivalent ions on power production from mixing salt and fresh water with a reverse electrodialysis system. Journal of Membrane Science, 330(1–2): 65–72 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2008.12.042
20	T Rijnaarts, J Moreno, M Saakes, W M De Vos, K Nijmeijer (2019). Role of anion exchange membrane fouling in reverse electrodialysis using natural feed waters. Colloids and Surfaces. A, Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 560: 198–204 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2018.10.020
21	M Tedesco, C Scalici, D Vaccari, A Cipollina, A Tamburini, G Micale (2016). Performance of the first reverse electrodialysis pilot plant for power production from saline waters and concentrated brines. Journal of Membrane Science, 500: 33–45 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.10.057
22	R A Tufa, E Curcio, W Van Baak, J Veerman, S Grasman, E Fontananova, G Di Profio (2014). Potential of brackish water and brine for energy generation by salinity gradient power-reverse electrodialysis (SGP-RE). RSC Advances, 4(80): 42617–42623 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4RA05968A
23	R A Tufa, J Hnát, M Němeček, R Kodým, E Curcio, K Bouzek (2018a). Hydrogen production from industrial wastewaters: An integrated reverse electrodialysis—Water electrolysis energy system. Journal of Cleaner Production, 203: 418–426 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.269
24	R A Tufa, S Pawlowski, J Veerman, K Bouzek, E Fontananova, G Di Profio, S Velizarov, J Goulão Crespo, K Nijmeijer, E Curcio (2018b). Progress and prospects in reverse electrodialysis for salinity gradient energy conversion and storage. Applied Energy, 225: 290–331 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.04.111
25	J Veerman, R M De Jong, M Saakes, S J Metz, G J Harmsen (2009a). Reverse electrodialysis: Comparison of six commercial membrane pairs on the thermodynamic efficiency and power density. Journal of Membrane Science, 343(1–2): 7–15 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2009.05.047
26	J Veerman, J W Post, M Saakes, S J Metz, G J Harmsen (2008). Reducing power losses caused by ionic shortcut currents in reverse electrodialysis stacks by a validated model. Journal of Membrane Science, 310(1–2): 418–430 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2007.11.032
27	J Veerman, M Saakes, S J Metz, G J Harmsen (2009b). Reverse electrodialysis: Performance of a stack with 50 cells on the mixing of sea and river water. Journal of Membrane Science, 327(1–2): 136–144 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2008.11.015
28	J Veerman, M Saakes, S J Metz, G J Harmsen (2011). Reverse electrodialysis: A validated process model for design and optimization. Chemical Engineering Journal, 166(1): 256–268 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2010.10.071
29	D A Vermaas, M Saakes, K Nijmeijer (2011). Power generation using profiled membranes in reverse electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 385–386: 234–242 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2011.09.043
30	D A Vermaas, M Saakes, K Nijmeijer (2014). Enhanced mixing in the diffusive boundary layer for energy generation in reverse electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 453: 312–319 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2013.11.005
31	X Wang, N Li, J Li, J Feng, Z Ma, Y Xu, Y Sun, D Xu, J Wang, X Gao, J Gao (2019). Fluoride removal from secondary effluent of the graphite industry using electrodialysis: Optimization with response surface methodology. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 13(4): 51 doi:10.1007/s11783-019-1132-5
32	H Xie, T Saito, M A Hickner (2011). Zeta potential of ion-conductive membranes by streaming current measurements. Langmuir, 27(8): 4721–4727 https://doi.org/10.1021/la105120f pmid: 21443169
33	W Xue, M Zaw, X An, Y Hu, S Tabucanon (2020). Sea salt bittern-driven forward osmosis for nutrient recovery from black water: A dual waste-to-resource innovation via the osmotic membrane process. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 2020, 14(2): 32doi:10.1007/s11783-019-1211-7
34	B Zhang, J G Hong, S Xie, S Xia, Y Chen (2017). An integrative modeling and experimental study on the ionic resistance of ion-exchange membranes. Journal of Membrane Science, 524: 362–369 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.11.050
35	W Zhang, J Ma, P Wang, Z Wang, F Shi, H Liu (2016a). Investigations on the interfacial capacitance and the diffusion boundary layer thickness of ion exchange membrane using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Journal of Membrane Science, 502: 37–47 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.12.007
36	W Zhang, P Wang, J Ma, Z Wang, H Liu (2016b). Investigations on electrochemical properties of membrane systems in ion-exchange membrane transport processes by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and direct current measurements. Electrochimica Acta, 216: 110-119 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2016.09.018
37	Y Zhang, R Liu, Q Lang, M Tan, Y Zhang (2018). Composite anion exchange membrane made by layer-by-layer method for selective ion separation and water migration control. Separation and Purification Technology, 192: 278–286 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2017.10.022
38	X Zhu, W He, B E Logan (2015). Reducing pumping energy by using different flow rates of high and low concentration solutions in reverse electrodialysis cells. Journal of Membrane Science, 486: 215–221 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.035

[1]

FSE-21067-OF-ZWJ_suppl_1

Download

Viewed

Full text

Abstract

Cited

Shared

Discussed