The activities of our group are in the broad area of heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid dynamics. Our focus is on technologies for desalination of seawater and brackish water, remediation of various waste waters, and recycling of water, with increased energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact as core objectives. This work includes thermodynamic cycle analysis, transport processes in components, solar-energy driven systems, and both thermal and membrane separations.
Past activities in our lab have included thermal management of electronics, high heat flux engineering, thermal stress and deformation, thermal manufacturing processes, liquid jet impingement cooling, instrumentation, thermally stratified turbulent flow, and thermally driven instabilities.
Recent | Spotlight | Popular | Complete
Recent Journal Papers (last 10)
F. Du, D.M. Warsinger, T.I. Urmi, G.P. Thiel, A. Kumar, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Sodium hydroxide production from seawater desalination brine: process design and energy efficiency,” Environmental Science & Technology , online 18 April 2018. (doi link )
Y. Ahdab, G.P. Thiel, J.K. Böhlke, J. Stanton, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Minimum energy requirements for desalination of brackish groundwater in the United States,” Water Research , accepted, 6 April 2018.
O. Labban, T.H. Chong, J.H. Lienhard V, “Design and Modeling of Novel Low-Pressure Nanofiltration Hollow Fiber Modules for Water Softening and Desalination Pretreatment,” Desalination , online 14 April 2018, 439 :58-72, 1 August 2018. (doi link ) (free download )
K.M. Chehayeb, K.G. Nayar, and J.H. Lienhard V, “On the merits of using multi-stage and counterflow electrodialysis for reduced energy consumption,” Desalination , online 6 April 2018, 439 :1-16, 1 August 2018. (doi link ) (free download )
M. Rezaei, D.M. Warsinger, J.H. Lienhard V, M. Duke, W.M. Samhaber, “Wetting phenomena in membrane distillation: mechanisms, reversal and prevention,” Water Research , online 30 March 2018, 139 :329-352, 1 August 2018. (doi link ) (free download )
E.W. Tow, D.M. Warsinger, J. Swaminathan, A.M. Trueworthy, G.P. Thiel, S.M. Zubair, A.S. Myerson, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Comparison of fouling propensity between reverse osmosis, forward osmosis, and membrane distillation,” J. Membrane Sci. , online 27 March 2018. (doi link )
D.M. Warsinger, J. Swaminathan, L.L. Morales, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Comprehensive condensation flow regimes in air gap membrane distillation: visualization and energy efficiency,” J. Membrane Science , online 21 March 2018. (doi link )
O. Labban, C. Liu, T.H. Chong, J.H. Lienhard V, “Relating Transport Modeling to Nanofiltration Membrane Fabrication: Navigating the Permeability-Selectivity Tradeoff in Desalination Pretreatment,” J. Membrane Science , online 6 March 2018, 554 :26-38, 15 May 2018. (doi link ) (preprint )
(free reprints)
D.M. Warsinger, E.W. Tow, L.A. Maswadeh, G. Connors, J. Swaminathan, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Inorganic fouling mitigation by salinity cycling in batch reverse osmosis,” Water Research , online 5 Feb. 2018, 137 :384-394, 15 June 2018. (doi link ) (preprint ) (free reprints)
D.M. Warsinger, S. Chakraborty, E.W. Tow, M.H. Plumlee, C. Bellona, S. Loutatidou, L. Karimi, A.M. Mikelonis, A. Achilli, A. Ghassemi, L.P. Padhye, S. A. Snyder, S. Curcio, C. Vecitis, H.A. Arafat, and J.H. Lienhard V, “A Review of Polymeric Membranes and Processes for Potable Water Reuse,” Prog. Polymer Sci. , online 31 Jan. 2018. (doi link )
Spotlight Publications
L.R. Glicksman and J.H. Lienhard V. Modeling and Approximation in Heat Transfer. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2016. (URL ) (About )
J.H. Lienhard V, K.H. Mistry, M.H. Sharqawy, and G.P. Thiel, “Thermodynamics, Exergy,
and Energy Efficiency in Desalination Systems,” in Desalination Sustainability: A Technical, Socioeconomic, and Environmental Approach , Chpt. 4, H.A. Arafat, ed. Elsevier Publishing Co., 23 June 2017. (URL ) (preprint )
D.M. Warsinger, E.W. Tow, K.G. Nayar, L.A. Maswadeh, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Energy Efficiency of Batch and Semi-batch (CCRO) Reverse Osmosis Desalination,” Water Research , online 25 Sept. 2016, 106 :272-282, 1 Dec. 2016. (doi link ) (preprint )
Energy saving reverse osmosis desalination systems invented at MIT.
J.H. Lienhard V, G.P. Thiel, D.E.M. Warsinger, L.D. Banchik (eds.), Low Carbon Desalination: Status and Research, Development, and Demonstration Needs , Report of a workshop conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in association with the Global Clean Water Desalination Alliance, MIT Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab, Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 2016. (pdf) (About )
R.K. McGovern and J.H. Lienhard V, “On the potential of forward osmosis to energetically outperform reverse osmosis desalination,” J. Membrane Sci. , 469 :245-250, Nov. 2014. (doi link ) (preprint) Reverse osmosis is more energy efficient than [single feed stream] forward osmosis for seawater desalination
D. Cohen-Tanugi, R.K. McGovern, S. Dave, J.H. Lienhard V, and J.C. Grossman, “Quantifying the Potential of Ultra-permeable Desalination Membranes,” Energy Environ. Sci. , 7 (3):1134-1141, Feb. 2014. (doi link ) (preprint) High membrane permeability does not save substantial energy in single-pass RO, but it can reduce system size.
M. Sweetland, J.H. Lienhard V, and A.H. Slocum, “A Convection/Radiation Temperature Control System for High Power Density Electronic Device Testing,” ASME J. Electronic Packaging , 130 :0310123, 2008 (pdf) Jet arrays and fiber-optic lasers for IC temperature control.
C.H. Oh, J.H. Lienhard V, H.F. Younis, R.S. Dahbura, and D. Michels, “Liquid Jet-Array Cooling Modules for High Heat Fluxes,” AIChE Journal , 44 (4):769-779, 1998. (PDF file)
Heat flux of 1.7 kW/cm2 by forced convection using liquid jet arrays.
S.K. Bhunia and J.H. Lienhard V, “Surface Disturbance Evolution and the Splattering of Turbulent Liquid Jets,” J. Fluids Engineering , 116: (4):721-727, 1994. (pdf)
Discover the k-19/3 spectrum!
X. Liu and J.H. Lienhard V, “Extremely High Heat Fluxes Beneath Impinging Liquid Jets,” J. Heat Transfer , Vol.115, No.2, 1993, pp.472-476.
Heat flux of ~40 kW/cm2 beneath a high speed impinging liquid jet.
And Ten More Popular Publications
D.E.M. Warsinger, J. Swaminathan, E. Guillen, H.A. Arafat, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Scaling and Fouling In Membrane Distillation for Desalination Applications: A Review,” Desalination , 356 :294-313, 15 January 2015. (doi link ) (preprint)
A.K. Plappally and J.H. Lienhard V, “Energy Requirements for Water Production, Treatment, End Use, Reclamation, and Discharge,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews , 16 (7):4818-4848, Sept. 2012. (doi link )
E.K. Summers, H.A. Arafat, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Energy efficiency comparison of single stage membrane distillation (MD) desalination cycles in different configurations,” Desalination , 290 :54-66, Feb. 2012. (doi link )
K.H. Mistry, R.K. McGovern, G.P. Thiel, E.K. Summers, S.M. Zubair, and J.H. Lienhard V, “Entropy generation analysis of desalination technologies,” Entropy , 13 (10):1829-1864, Sept. 2011 (pdf ). Received Best Paper Award
G.P. Narayan, M.H. Sharqawy, E.K. Summers, J.H. Lienhard V, S.M. Zubair, and M.A. Antar, “The potential of solar-driven humidification-dehumidification desalination for small-scale decentralized water production,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews , 14 (4):1187-1201, May 2010. (doi link ) (preprint )
M.H. Sharqawy, J.H. Lienhard V, and S.M. Zubair, “The thermophysical properties of seawater: A review of existing correlations and data,” Desalination and Water Treatment , 16 :354-380, April 2010. (pdf)
A.E. Bergles, J.H. Lienhard V, G.E. Kendall, and P. Griffith, “Boiling and Evaporation in Small Diameter Channels,” Heat Transfer Engineering , 24 (1):18-40, 2003. (pdf)
X. Liu and J.H. Lienhard V, “The Hydraulic Jump in Circular Liquid Jet Impingement and in Other Thin Films,” Expts. Fluids , 15 :108-116, 1993. (pdf)
X. Liu, J.H. Lienhard V, and J.S. Lombara, “Convective Heat Transfer by Impingement of Circular Liquid Jets,” J. Heat Transfer , 113 (3):571-582, 1991. (pdf)
J.H. Lienhard V and C.W. Van Atta, “The decay of turbulence in thermally stratified flow,” J. Fluid Mechanics, 210 :57-112, Jan. 1990. (pdf)