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BACKGROUND The increasing presence of contaminants of emerging concern, including pharmaceuticals, in the environment creates an urgent need for development of efficient technologies of water treatment. A promising solution could be the application of hybrid systems combining advanced oxidation processes and membrane technology. The presented investigations were focused on the treatment of simulated surface water contaminated with ketoprofen in a submerged photocatalytic membrane reactor utilizing direct contact membrane distillation (SPMR‐DCMD). The influence of operational parameters such as TiO2 photocatalyst concentration, feed temperature and aeration rate was examined. Moreover, the long‐term performance of the polypropylene membrane in the SPMR‐DCMD was evaluated. RESULTS It was proved that the increase in feed temperature not only improved the permeate flux but also enhanced the degradation efficiency, despite a simultaneous decrease in dissolved oxygen concentration. Aeration of feed did not improve the photodegradation rate, but enhanced the product quality, especially with reference to removal of CO2, thus reducing the aggressive properties of water. The presence of TiO2 was proved to enhance the permeate flux. During 200 h of SPMR‐DCMD operation the conductivity of the distillate did not exceed 3 μS cm−1 (vs. 0.1–0.5 mS cm−1 in feed), showing a high quality of the product. CONCLUSION The obtained results revealed a significant advantage of SPMR‐DCMD over the systems utilizing pressure‐driven membrane processes. Permeate quality was very high and no negative effect of the fouling layer on system performance was found. Moreover, the applied membrane exhibited very good stability during long‐term operation. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

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