Electroosmotic flow (EOF) pumps with flow rates on the order of 1 ml/min have been designed and fabricated. These pumps use EOF to propel liquid solutions in a compact system with no moving parts. The pumping chamber is filled with densely packed non-porous silica particles, and the particle bed is held in place using two polymeric porous frits. The pump frame is made of acrylic, the frits are ...

Pumping systems are an integral part of water desalination plants, their effective functioning is vital for the operation of a plant. In this research work, the reliability and availability of pressurized pumps in a reverse osmosis desalination plant are studied with the objective of finding configurations that provides optimal performance. Six configurations of a series system with different n...

This paper details the development of an integrated AC electro-osmotic (ACEO) microfluidic pump for dilute electrolytes consisting of a long serpentine microchannel lined with three dimensional (3D) stepped electrode arrays. Using low AC voltage (1 V rms, 1 kHz), power (5 mW) and current (4.5 mA) in water, the pump is capable of generating a 1.3 kPa head pressure, a 100-fold increase over prior...

Preliminary process design in 1997 for a new grass roots polymer unit in the Gulf Coast raised the possibility of using a single centrifugal pump instead of two reciprocating compressors to feed ethylene into the reactors. The objectives of this change were lower capital cost, energy consumption, and maintenance expense. Discussion of the possible application led finally to the design, manufact...

This paper presents a non-linear optimal control strategy for the operational management of water distribution networks (WDNs) including both flow and hydraulic head/pressure constraints. The optimal operation of WDNs should guarantee water supply with suitable pressures at all the demand nodes in the network. The challenge for non-linear model predictive control in this context is to compute c...

Froth is the basis to the extraction of bitumen from oil sand. Its components include sand, bitumen, water, and air. The technology of extraction and processing is evolving toward lower temperature of operation where the volumetric content of air and viscosity of bitumen challenge pumping. To improve the efficiency of froth handling pumps it is important to adapt the technology from other indus...

This paper presents a new analysis of the effects of ambient temperature variations on the surge characteristics of turbo heat pumps. To this end, an analytical model capable of predicting unsteady behavior of surge in turbo heat pumps has been developed. In compression systems, surge is mostly caused by the compressor work exceeding the mechanical inertia of the system. In refrigeration system...

For the new Meppel district Nieuwveense landen a hybrid energy concept is developed based on biogas cogeneration. The generated electricity is used to power domestic heat pumps which supply thermal energy for domestic hot water and space heating demand of households. In this paper we investigate scheduling of a group of heat pumps in order to minimize the maximum peak of the total electricity c...