A hybrid modeling approach for optimal design of non-woven membrane channels in brackish water reverse osmosis process with high-throughput computation

Abstract Optimal design of feed spacers in spiral wound membrane (SWM) modules has attracted extensive attention in industry and academia due to their widespread applications. However, it is still mathematically difficult and computationally expensive to solve many CFD models with various design parameters. In this work, a hybrid framework that couples a system-level model with a CFD model neglecting concentration polarization (CP) phenomenon is developed to analyze the performance of brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) processes under industrial operating conditions using non-woven SWM modules. The simulation results are in satisfactory agreement with measurement data, while computational efficiency is about ten times of that of a previous model accounting for the CP phenomenon. Furthermore, an efficient heuristic optimal design workflow that couples a high-throughput computation (HTC) strategy with the consideration of the field synergy equation is proposed to tackle the sophisticated hydraulic optimization problems within the scope of the considered design space. For this purpose, a total number of 1958 CFD models are solved with various geometries and inlet velocities at 51 nodes (1224 cores) on Tianhe-2 supercomputer by applying the proposed HTC strategy. Using the optimized spacer structure, the average permeation flux of water is enhanced by about 9%.