Material gap membrane distillation: A new design for water vapor flux enhancement

Francis, Lijo; Ghaffour, Noreddine; Alsaadi, Ahmad Salem; Amy, Gary L.

doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2013.08.013

Cited by 181 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Details of the membrane characteristics and its performance for seawater desalination were widely reported in previous works, e.g. [5,10,13]. Some of these parameters are presented in Table 1, while Table 2 presents the feed water characteristics.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Four common configurations, mainly airgap membrane distillation (AGMD), vacuum membrane distillation (VMD), sweeping-gas membrane distillation (SGMD), and direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD), are proposed and widely studied [3]. Though other configurations are also developed such as water gap MD [13]. Vapor condensation which occurs in the permeate side is the main difference among these configurations [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamic modeling and experimental validation for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process

et al. 2016

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This work proposes a mathematical dynamic model for the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process. The model is based on a 2D Advection-Diffusion Equation (ADE), which describes the heat and mass transfer mechanisms that take place inside the DCMD module. The model studies the behavior of the process in the time varying and the steady state phases, contributing to understanding the process performance, especially when it is driven by intermittent energy supply, such as the solar energy. The model is experimentally validated in the steady state phase, where the permeate flux is measured for different feed inlet temperatures and the maximum absolute error recorded is 2.78• C. Moreover, experimental validation includes the time variation phase, where the feed inlet temperature ranges from 30• C to 75• C with 0.1 • C increment every 2 minutes. The validation marks relative error to be less than 5%, which leads to a strong correlation between the model predictions and the experiments.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic modeling and experimental validation for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process

et al. 2016

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“…The feed solution, after being heated, is brought into contact with the membrane which allows only the vapor to go through the dry pores so that it condenses on the permeate side (coolant), as shown in Figure 7. A temperature difference of 7-10 o C between the warm and cold streams is potentially enough to produce freshwater [133][134][135][152][153][154].…”

Section: Membrane Distillation (Md)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Renewable energy-driven desalination technologies: A comprehensive review on challenges and potential applications of integrated systems

et al. 2015

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Despite the tremendous improvements in conventional desalination technologies, its wide use is still limited due primarily to high energy requirements which are currently met with expensive fossil fuels. The use of alternative energy sources is essential to meet the growing demand for water desalination. In the last few decades a lot of effort has being directed in the use of different renewable energy (RE) sources to run desalination processes. However, the expansion of these efforts towards larger scale plants is hampered by several techno-economic challenges. Several medium-scale RE-driven desalination plants have been installed worldwide. Nevertheless, most of these plants are connected to the electrical grid to assure a continuous energy supply for stable operation. Furthermore, RE is mostly used to produce electric power which can be used to run desalination systems. This review paper focusses on an integrated approach in using RE-driven with an emphasis on solar and geothermal desalination technologies. Innovative and sustainable desalination processes which are suitable for integrated RE systems are presented. An assessment of the benefits of these technologies and their limitations are also discussed.

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“…In the case of DCMD, despite the higher flux the efficiency is lower as the thermal efficiency decreases with increasing ΔT due to the high heat input required and low heat recovery [13] as well as the thermal conduction (from feed to permeate sides) and the latent heat of water evaporation [50,51]. As shown in Figure 6 …”

Section: Scale-up Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance evaluation of the DCMD desalination process under bench scale and large scale module operating conditions

Francis

Ghaffour

Alsaadi

et al. 2014

Journal of Membrane Science

124

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The flux performance of different hydrophobic microporous flat sheet commercial membranes made of poly tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and poly propylene (PP) was tested for Red Sea water desalination using the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process, under bench scale (high ΔT) and large scale module (low ΔT) operating conditions. Membranes were characterized for their surface morphology, water contact angle, thickness, porosity, pore size and pore size distribution. The DCMD process performance was optimized using a locally designed and fabricated module aiming to maximize the flux at different levels of operating parameters, mainly feed water and coolant inlet temperatures at different temperature difference across the membrane (ΔT). Water vapor flux of 88.8 kg/m 2 h was obtained using a PTFE membrane at high ΔT (60 °C). In addition, the flux performance was compared to the first generation of a new locally synthesized and fabricated membrane made of a different class of polymer under the same conditions. A total salt rejection of 99.99% and boron rejection of 99.41% were achieved under the extreme operating conditions. On the other hand, a detailed water characterization revealed that low molecular weight non-ionic molecules (ppb level) were transported with the water vapor molecules through the membrane structure. The membrane which provided the highest flux was then tested under large scale module operating conditions. The average flux of the latter study (low ΔT) was found to be eight times lower than that of the bench scale (high ΔT) operating conditions.

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Material gap membrane distillation: A new design for water vapor flux enhancement

Cited by 181 publications

References 41 publications

Dynamic modeling and experimental validation for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process

Dynamic modeling and experimental validation for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process

Renewable energy-driven desalination technologies: A comprehensive review on challenges and potential applications of integrated systems

Performance evaluation of the DCMD desalination process under bench scale and large scale module operating conditions

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