Modeling and Simulation of Zn Heavy Metal Removal from Wastewater in Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactor

In this study, computational fluid dynamics simulation of liquid-liquid extraction of zinc was performed using trifluoroacetylacetone as a solvent in the hollow fiber membrane contactor. Mass and momentum balance equations (Navier-Stokes) were used to express the transport of zinc solutes through the membrane contactor. After applying the conditions, the governing equations were simulated using the finite element method. After validating the results, simulation was performed to study the distribution of zinc concentration in two-dimensional and three-dimensional form, as well as to investigate the effect of different parameters such as distribution coefficient and current intensity on the extraction efficiency. The results showed that by increasing the partition coefficient from 1 to 10, the amount of single-pass extraction increased from 10 to 100 percent. Also, the extraction efficiency in the counter-current flow of pipe and shell is 9% higher than in the co-current flow. Furthermore, this study showed that computational fluid dynamics could be used as an effective tool for the development of membrane-based extraction processes.