Pressure drop in woven-spacer-filled channels for reverse electrodialysis: CFD prediction and experimental validation

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is a promising technology for electric power generation by thechemical potential difference of two salt solutions within a stack equipped by selective ionexchangemembranes (salinity gradient energy). Mechanical energy is required for pumping thefeed solutions, which can reduce dramatically the net power output.In this work Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of spacer-filled channels for REDwere carried out in parallel with an experimental campaign focused on the collection of data formodel validation.