Artificial Water Hardness Removal-Modelling and Simulation in ASPEN Plus

Isa Umaru Usman, Abdulhalim Musa Abubakar, Bukar Ibrahim Askira, Moses NyoTonglo Arowo, Abba Saleh Lawan, Tahiru Saka

doi:https://doi.org/10.59232/MS-V1I1P101

Research Article | Open Access | Download Full Text

Volume 1 | Issue 1 | Year 2023 | Article Id: MS-V1I1P101 DOI: https://doi.org/10.59232/MS-V1I1P101

Artificial Water Hardness Removal-Modelling and Simulation in ASPEN Plus

Isa Umaru Usman, Abdulhalim Musa Abubakar, Bukar Ibrahim Askira, Moses NyoTonglo Arowo, Abba Saleh Lawan, Tahiru Saka

Received	Revised	Accepted	Published
27 Jun 2023	20 Jul 2023	27 Aug 2023	03 Oct 2023

Citation

Isa Umaru Usman, Abdulhalim Musa Abubakar, Bukar Ibrahim Askira, Moses NyoTonglo Arowo, Abba Saleh Lawan, Tahiru Saka. “Artificial Water Hardness Removal-Modelling and Simulation in ASPEN Plus.” DS Journal of Modeling and Simulation, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-8, 2023.

Abstract

ASPEN Plus is not often a satisfactory software for modelling and simulation of water treatment plants, as it lacks the support for the presence of microorganisms, large debris, leather and other impurities. However, the study herein shows that the software can simulate a simple hard water softening plant, a phenomenon that is important for home and industrial use. Three m3 of artificial hard water containing 288 kg CaCl2, 390 kg NaHCO3, and 220 kg of MgSO4.7H2O was softened by passing it through different units defined using ASPEN Plus V8.8. The initial mole percent of the hardness chemicals added was 12.84 %, resulting in soft water containing trace amounts of all the hardness chemicals. Separation of the minerals from the hard water was achieved using an evaporator unit ‘Flash2’, where the temperature above the boiling point of the compound or mineral salt with the highest boiling point was specified. Almost 100% soft water was achieved when the simulation converged. This work, therefore, addresses the potential negative effects associated with the use of hard water by humans and animals. Engineering such a scheme for implementation across all water treatment facilities would be a welcoming idea, as it will help reduce the challenges faced by end-users of clean hard water supply.

Keywords

Distilled water, Hard water, Tap water, Water treatment, Soft water.

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