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Steven Dubowsky. Reed, Elizabeth Anne, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering 2012-11-19T19:20:16Z 2012-11-19T19:20:16Z 2012 2012 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74940 815964196 Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-86). The purpose of this thesis is to design and validate a controllable energy recovery device with application to photovoltaic powered reverse osmosis (PVRO). The energy consumption of a reverse osmosis plant depends significantly on the efficiency of its energy recovery process. This work presents a concept for a controllable energy recovery process, so that a system can operate optimally based on the incoming water and power characteristics. The design presented here uses a variable nozzle and a Pelton wheel to recover energy from the high pressure concentrated brine exiting the reverse osmosis membrane. The components are designed, analytically modeled using fundamental engineering principles, and experimentally tested. The experimental data is then used to check the validity of the formulated concept models. This research encompasses the modeling and testing of a variable nozzle using a needle valve to control the flow through the nozzle, and also of a Pelton bucket, to examine the effectiveness of the momentum transfer from a high velocity jet to the Pelton wheel. This research is done to examine the feasibility of this concept for potential implementation on a full scale PVRO system. The component validation is performed to prove that the concept is effective and competitive with other options. by Elizabeth Anne Reed. S.M. 96 p. eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 Mechanical Engineering. The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation Thesis application/pdf false Publication unknown unknown <Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="9f69d8d0-21bf-4877-92f8-02af40e36e95"> <Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type> <Language>eng</Language> <Title>The design of a controllable energy recovery device for solar powered reverse osmosis desalination with experimental validation</Title> <PublishedIn> <Publication> </Publication> </PublishedIn> <PublicationDate>2012</PublicationDate> <Authors> <Author> <DisplayName>Reed, Elizabeth Anne, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName> <Affiliation> <OrgUnit> </OrgUnit> </Affiliation> </Author> </Authors> <Editors> </Editors> <Publishers> <Publisher> <DisplayName>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName> <OrgUnit /> </Publisher> </Publishers> <License>http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582</License> <Keyword>Mechanical Engineering.</Keyword> <Abstract>The purpose of this thesis is to design and validate a controllable energy recovery device with application to photovoltaic powered reverse osmosis (PVRO). The energy consumption of a reverse osmosis plant depends significantly on the efficiency of its energy recovery process. This work presents a concept for a controllable energy recovery process, so that a system can operate optimally based on the incoming water and power characteristics. The design presented here uses a variable nozzle and a Pelton wheel to recover energy from the high pressure concentrated brine exiting the reverse osmosis membrane. The components are designed, analytically modeled using fundamental engineering principles, and experimentally tested. The experimental data is then used to check the validity of the formulated concept models. This research encompasses the modeling and testing of a variable nozzle using a needle valve to control the flow through the nozzle, and also of a Pelton bucket, to examine the effectiveness of the momentum transfer from a high velocity jet to the Pelton wheel. This research is done to examine the feasibility of this concept for potential implementation on a full scale PVRO system. The component validation is performed to prove that the concept is effective and competitive with other options.</Abstract> <Access xmlns="http://purl.org/coar/access_right" > </Access> </Publication>