Scaling and fouling in membrane distillation for desalination applications: A review

Warsinger, David M.; Swaminathan, Jaichander; Guillén-Burrieza, Elena; Arafat, Hassan A.; Lienhard, John H.

doi:10.1016/j.desal.2014.06.031

Cited by 680 publications

(386 citation statements)

References 135 publications

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“…Generally, after rinsing the membrane with distilled water, the used chemical cleaning agents include acids, alkalis, surfactants, enzymes and metal chelating agents (i.e., organic compounds that form complexes with metal ions) [15,17,156]. Research studies used different strong and weak acids to clean scales such as HCl, which is particularly effective to remove basic crystal salts (e.g., CaCO 3 ) by dissolving the deposit from the membrane surface [14,49,69]. According to Gryta [49], rinsing the membrane module by 3 wt % HCl allowed to dissolve the CaCO 3 scale on the PP hollow fiber membrane and restore the initial membrane permeability.…”

Section: Membrane Cleaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, pretreatment by NF and addition of hypochloric acid (pH = 5) completely prevented this type fouling, even after long-term operation (i.e., after 1400 h of operation [76]). It is worth noting that EPS (i.e., extracellular polymeric substances) excreted by the bacteria are the major structural components of biofilms and are very difficult to remove [14,77,78]. The biofilm structure containing EPS with amphiphilic properties induces the membrane pore wetting leakage of feed solutes to the permeate side [15].…”

Section: Biofoulingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is worth noting that very few studies have been published so far on fouling mechanisms in MD, OD and OMD and investigations on the kinetics behind fouling phenomena and fouling mitigation remain very scarce [12,13]. Two review papers have been published on fouling and scaling in MD but not on OD and OMD [14,15]. Moreover, when fouling is studied, the considered characterization techniques focused only on the average physico-chemical properties of the surface deposits but not on the underlying deposit layers [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fouling in Membrane Distillation, Osmotic Distillation and Osmotic Membrane Distillation

et al. 2017

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Various membrane separation processes are being used for seawater desalination and treatment of wastewaters in order to deal with the worldwide water shortage problem. Different types of membranes of distinct morphologies, structures and physico-chemical characteristics are employed. Among the considered membrane technologies, membrane distillation (MD), osmotic distillation (OD) and osmotic membrane distillation (OMD) use porous and hydrophobic membranes for production of distilled water and/or concentration of wastewaters for recovery and recycling of valuable compounds. However, the efficiency of these technologies is hampered by fouling phenomena. This refers to the accumulation of organic/inorganic deposits including biological matter on the membrane surface and/or in the membrane pores. Fouling in MD, OD and OMD differs from that observed in electric and pressure-driven membrane processes such electrodialysis (ED), membrane capacitive deionization (MCD), reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF), ultrafiltration (UF), microfiltration (MF), etc. Other than pore blockage, fouling in MD, OD and OMD increases the risk of membrane pores wetting and reduces therefore the quantity and quality of the produced water or the concentration efficiency of the process. This review deals with the observed fouling phenomena in MD, OD and OMD. It highlights different detected fouling types (organic fouling, inorganic fouling and biofouling), fouling characterization techniques as well as various methods of fouling reduction including pretreatment, membrane modification, membrane cleaning and antiscalants application.

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Section: Membrane Cleaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biofoulingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fouling in Membrane Distillation, Osmotic Distillation and Osmotic Membrane Distillation

et al. 2017

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“…Srisurichan et al [24] found that pure water rinsing was not sufficient to recover the initial permeate flux, while HA fouling was easily removed with a 0.1 M NaOH solution and 100% flux recovery was attained. It is also reported that thermal heating in MD may influence the characteristics of HA, and alternating temperature changes can clean HA fouling in some extent [27]. Nevertheless, it is worth highlighting that the HA fouling control methods used in pressure-driven membrane processes may be full of important reference value.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Humic acid fouling mitigation by ultrasonic irradiation in membrane distillation process

Hou

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2015

Separation and Purification Technology

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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.

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“…Membrane fouling factors are the determinants of water production performance. Fouling factors contribute to increase operating pressure across membranes and this reduces CU, product water production and lifespan of membranes [41]. Therefore, maintenance activities are crucial to remove membrane fouling.…”

Section: Characteristics Of Variables Usedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Production Performance of Small Scale Production Plant

Lee¹,

Karunakaran²,

Djubair³

et al. 2018

IJAEMS

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Scaling and fouling in membrane distillation for desalination applications: A review

Cited by 680 publications

References 135 publications

Fouling in Membrane Distillation, Osmotic Distillation and Osmotic Membrane Distillation

Fouling in Membrane Distillation, Osmotic Distillation and Osmotic Membrane Distillation

Humic acid fouling mitigation by ultrasonic irradiation in membrane distillation process

Modelling Production Performance of Small Scale Production Plant

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