The effects of temperature on the performance of four thin-film composite, aromatic polyamide commercial membranes (FilmTec, FT30 membranes) have been investigated experimentally. The operating conditions cover a temperature range of 5-60 °C and a pressure range of 350-7000 kPa, and the feed solution used is a 2000 ppm aqueous solution of sodium chloride. In general, it has been found that separation is independent of temperature at higher pressures. However, for lower pressures, separation decreases, passes through a minimum, and increases with increasing temperature. The permeation flux increases significantly with temperature. The compaction of the membranes causes the pure water permeability coefficient, A, to vary over the entire pressure range. Compaction is more pronounced as the temperature is increased. The A values, extrapolated to zero pressure, varied with temperature and were well represented by an Arrhenius plot. The apparent activation energies for water flux were found to vary with membrane type and temperature range but were * To whom correspondence should be addressed.
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