Fluid structure and system dynamics in nanodevices for water desalination

Abstract

Nanofluidic applications are currently being investigated in use for water treatment systems as a power efficient and effective means of removing undesirable substances from drinking or sea water. A detailed study of liquid nanoflows, in both simulation and experimental systems, is a prerequisite for establishing the theory and guiding the technological research and development toward this direction. In this work, we investigate the implications introduced when downsizing a flow system at the nanoscale with molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that the presence of the walls, hydrophobic or hydrophilic that interacts strongly with fluid particles, is the main effect on flow properties at the nanoscale, although this effect is neglected by the continuum theory that describes flows at macroscopic scale. Furthermore, we estimate the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor for nanoflows of this type. © 2015 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.