Portable and integrated solar-driven desalination system using membrane distillation for arid remote areas in Saudi Arabia

Chafidz, Achmad; Al‐Zahrani, Saeed M.; AlOtaibi, Mansour; Hoong, Choo Fook; Lai, Tan F.; Prabu, Manoharan

doi:10.1016/j.desal.2014.04.017

Cited by 127 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, the feed operating temperature of MD is often in the range of 40 to 80 ºC, which is also the optimal operating temperature with respect to thermal efficiency of most thermal solar collectors [11]. Given these attributes, MD is a promising candidate for small-scale, stand-alone, and solar-driven seawater desalination applications [3,[11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, RO may not be suitable for small-scale seawater desalination applications, particularly in areas with unreliable or limited power supply. In this context, membrane distillation (MD), given its ability to use solar thermal and low-grade heat directly as the primary source of energy, has been identified as a potential candidate for small-scale and off-grid seawater desalination applications [2][3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Evaluating energy consumption of air gap membrane distillation for seawater desalination at pilot scale level

Duong

Cooper

Nelemans³

et al. 2016

Separation and Purification Technology

160

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to optimise an air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) system for seawater desalination with respect to distillate production as well as thermal and electrical energy consumption. Pilot evaluation data shows a notable influence of evaporator inlet temperature and water circulation rate on process performance. An increase in both distillate production rate and energy efficiency could be obtained by increasing the evaporator inlet temperature. On the other hand, there was a trade-off between the distillate production rate and energy efficiency when the water circulation rate varied. Increasing the water circulation rate resulted in an improvement in the distillate production rate, but also an increase in both specific thermal and electrical energy consumption. Given the small driving force used in the pilot AGMD, discernible impact of feed salinity on process performance could be observed, while the effects of temperature and concentration polarisation were small. At the optimum operating conditions identified in this study, a stable AGMD operation for seawater desalination could be achieved with specific thermal and electrical energy consumption of 90 and 0.13 kW h/m3, respectively. These values demonstrate the commercial viability of AGMD for smallscale and off-grid seawater desalination where solar thermal or low-grade heat sources are readily available. Abstract: This study aimed to optimise an air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) process for seawater desalination with respect to distillate production as well as thermal and electrical energy consumption. Pilot evaluation data shows a notable influence of evaporator inlet temperature and water circulation rate on process performance. An increase in both distillate production rate and energy efficiency could be obtained by increasing the evaporator inlet temperature. On the other hand, there was a trade-off between the distillate production rate and energy efficiency when the water circulation rate varied. Increasing the water circulation rate resulted in an improvement in the distillate production rate, but also an increase in both specific thermal and electrical energy consumption. Given the small driving force used in the pilot AGMD, discernible impact of feed salinity on process performance could be observed, while the effects of temperature and concentration polarisation were small. At the optimum operating conditions identified in this study, a stable AGMD operation for seawater desalination could be achieved with specific thermal and electrical energy consumption of 90 and 0.13 kWh/m 3 , respectively. These values demonstrate the commercial viability of AGMD for small-scale and off-grid seawater desalination where solar thermal or low-grade heat sources are readily available.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating energy consumption of air gap membrane distillation for seawater desalination at pilot scale level

Duong

Cooper

Nelemans³

et al. 2016

Separation and Purification Technology

160

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In recent years, a number of studies have investigated the effect of fouling on the overall MD process utilizing different types of membranes such as flat-sheet and hollow fibers, as well as using different modules [15]. However, the majority of works focus on the negative effects and mitigation strategies of inorganic membrane scaling such as CaSO 4 , CaCO 3 and SiO 2 [16][17][18]. As far as we know, there are limited studies dedicated to organic fouling in the MD process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because the presence of divalent cation has a marked effect on HA fouling, selective removal of divalent cation via pretreatment was suggested to reduce the adverse effect of divalent ions [29]. In addition, antiscalants were widely used to control inorganic scales such as CaCO 3 and CaSO 4 formed on NF or RO membrane surfaces, Yang et al [30] tried to use a benign antiscalant polyaspartic acid to mitigate HA fouling on RO membrane. HA fouling decreased with Ca 2+ concentration increasing in the presence of polyaspartic acid, and it was a feasible approach for HA fouling control by dosing antiscalant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared with other desalination processes such as nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO) and conventional evaporation, MD has several unique advantages such as: (1) lower operating temperature and vapor space required than conventional distillation, (2) lower operating pressure than RO, (3) theoretically 100% salt rejection, (4) unlimited by high osmotic pressure, and (5) lower energy consumption than multistage vacuum evaporation [2][3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Humic acid fouling mitigation by ultrasonic irradiation in membrane distillation process

Hou

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2015

Separation and Purification Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tA novel ultrasonic assisted direct contact membrane distillation hybrid process was designed and the effect of ultrasonic irradiation on humic acid (HA) fouling mitigation during membrane distillation process was investigated. Although permeate flux declines were negligible (less than 5%) for the ranges of HA concentration studied, ultrasonic irradiation could enhance the permeate flux more than 30% without destroying HA rejection. The higher the concentration factor was, the larger the ultrasonic enhancement of permeate flux could be obtained. Severe permeate flux decline can be found when CaCl 2 was added into the HA solution. The presence of Ca 2+ would aggravate HA organic fouling phenomenon and resulted in a thick and dense HA fouling layer on membrane surface. The HA fouling increased heat transfer resistance and reduced the pores available for vapor transfer, both the permeate flux and thermal efficiency of the PTFE membrane declined. Under ultrasonic irradiation, ultrasonic wave refreshed the liquidmembrane interface continuously and alleviated the deposition of HA aggregates. Therefore, although there were still some HA fouling scattered on membrane surface, most of the membrane pores could be kept open and clean, the relative permeate flux can maintain above 94% and was hardly affected by concentration factor increasing.

show abstract

Solar Selective Absorber for Emerging Sustainable Applications

Zhang

Wang

Shi

et al. 2022

Adv Energy and Sustain Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Solar selective absorbers (SSAs) possess high sunlight absorption (300–2500 nm) and low infrared thermal radiative losses (2.5–25 μm), which are undoubtedly the best choice for photothermal conversion process, and SSAs have been widely used in concentrating solar power, solar water heating, and solar drying. Recently, to promote the realization of “double carbon” goal, SSAs have received widespread attentions, many emerging sustainable applications have been developed. In this review, the recent developments of SSAs and their latest sustainable applications in solar‐driven seawater desalination, multistage solar desalination, atmospheric water harvesting (AWH), wastewater treatment, solar thermophotovoltaics (STPVs), hybrid photovoltaic‐thermal (HPVT), solar‐thermoelectric generators (STEG), personal thermal management (PTM), photothermal catalysis, photothermal deicing, and photothermal sterilization, etc. are systematically summarized. Also, the challenges as well as future opportunities of SSAs are discussion. It is expected that this review will effectively complement the published comments on SSAs and provide more inspirations on sustainable applications of SSAs in the future.

show abstract

Portable and integrated solar-driven desalination system using membrane distillation for arid remote areas in Saudi Arabia

Cited by 127 publications

References 25 publications

Evaluating energy consumption of air gap membrane distillation for seawater desalination at pilot scale level

Evaluating energy consumption of air gap membrane distillation for seawater desalination at pilot scale level

Humic acid fouling mitigation by ultrasonic irradiation in membrane distillation process

Solar Selective Absorber for Emerging Sustainable Applications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About