Elazab H.A., Gadalla M.A., Abdel Fatah A.A., Darwish S.A., 2026, Experimental and Modeling Study of Batch-Operated FCDI with Short-Circuited Closed-Cycle Regeneration for High-Salinity Brackish Water Desalination, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 127, 259-264.
This research proposes an experimental setup for brackish water treatment employing flow capacitive deionization (FCDI). The FCDI cell runs activated carbon slurry with 10% carbon loading and applies a short-circuited close cycle for the regeneration of the flow electrode slurry. The flow electrode utilizes an electrolyte with the same TDS as the brackish water. A polyester separator is selected, and the FCDI is operated by applying a constant 1.2 V potential across the collectors. In operation, the brackish water leaving the FCDI is recirculated back to the cell for more residence time, and so is the flow electrode. A process model is also built to simulate an experimental FCDI cell based on salt balance and overall material balance. Experimental results show that the salinity of the bulk water (12 mL/min) is reduced from 8000 mg/L to 7310 mg/L after 7 minutes of recirculation at a slurry flow rate of 140 mL/min, achieving an average salt removal rate of 0.373 mmol/m2·s. On the other hand, the model results reveal very good agreement with the experimental results and predicted an overall recirculation time of 78 minutes to obtain fresh water. The experimental setup, together with the process model, can be applied for further investigation and sensitivity analysis.
