Effect of dry-out on the fouling of PVDF and PTFE membranes under conditions simulating intermittent seawater membrane distillation (SWMD)

Fouling in Membrane Distillation, Osmotic Distillation and Osmotic Membrane Distillation

“…It was found that the thickness of the salt layer deposited on the membrane surface was about 7 µm for the PTFE membrane having a thickness of 50 µm (Figure 2a) and about 4 µm for the PVDF membrane having a thickness of 23 µm. Similarly, the PVDF membrane with 200 µm thickness showed a salt layer near 15 µm thick (Figure 2b) while the PVDF membrane having 125 µm thickness had about 10 µm thick salt layer [41]. In order to further understand the effects of salt deposition on MD parameters, the mechanical strength, pore size distribution and gas permeability of the membranes were evaluated before and after inorganic fouling.…”

“…Guillen-Burrieza, et al [41] investigated the effects of membrane scaling (i.e., salt deposition) on the properties of two commercial hydrophobic membranes (i.e., PTFE and PVDF) [41]. It was proved that hydrophobic PVDF and PTFE membranes were not immune to fouling by salt deposition but behaved differently against it [41].…”

“…It was proved that hydrophobic PVDF and PTFE membranes were not immune to fouling by salt deposition but behaved differently against it [41]. All the used characterization techniques to detect salt deposition showed significant scaling (i.e., presence of NaCl, MgSiO 3 , MgCO 3 and CaCO 3 ) starting from the first week of seawater desalination.…”

“…It was proved that inorganic fouling not only altered the membrane's properties but also the MD performance (i.e., permeate flux and salt rejection) [41]. ) while the PVDF membrane having 125 μm thickness had about 10 μm thick salt layer [41]. In order to further understand the effects of salt deposition on MD parameters, the mechanical strength, pore size distribution and gas permeability of the membranes were evaluated before and after inorganic fouling.…”

“…In order to further understand the effects of salt deposition on MD parameters, the mechanical strength, pore size distribution and gas permeability of the membranes were evaluated before and after inorganic fouling. It was proved that inorganic fouling not only altered the membrane's properties but also the MD performance (i.e., permeate flux and salt rejection) [41]. In order to prevent inorganic fouling, desalination can be carried out using a hybrid process, namely membrane crystallization, that combines both crystallization of salts and MD [70,[72][73][74][75].…”