• 상하수도학회지
• /
• 제30권3호
• /
• pp.343-350
• /
• 2016

Membrane distillation (MD) is a novel separation process that have drawn attention as an affordable alternative to conventional desalination processes. However, membrane fouling and pore wetting are issues to be addressed prior to widespread application of MD. In this study, the influence of ultrasonic irradiation on fouling and wetting of MD membranes was investigated for better understanding of the MD process. Experiments were carried out using a direct contact membrane distillation apparatus Colloidal silica was used as a model foulants in a synthetic seawater (35,000 mg/L NaCl solution). A vibrator was directed attached to membrane module to generate ultrasonic waves from 25 kHz (the highest energy) to 75 kHz (the lowest energy). Flux and TDS for the distillate water were continuously monitored. Results suggested that ultrasonic irradiation is effective to retard flux decline due to fouling only in the early stage of the MD operation. Moreover, wetting occurred by a long-term application of ultrasonic rradiation at 75 kHz. These results suggest that the conditions for ultrasonic irradiation should be carefully optimized to maximize fouling control and minimize pore wetting.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• 제10권4호
• /
• pp.251-257
• /
• 2019

Fabricating hydrophobic porous membrane is important for exploring the applications of membrane distillation (MD). In the present paper, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hollow fiber membrane was modified by coating polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on its surface. The effects of PDMS concentration, cross-linking temperature and cross-linking time on the performance of the composite membranes in a vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process were investigated. It was found that the hydrophobicity and the VMD performance of the PVDF hollow fiber membrane were obviously improved by coating PDMS. The optimal PDMS concentration, cross-linking temperature and cross-linking time were 0.5 wt%, $80^{\circ}C$, and 9 hr, respectively.

• 상하수도학회지
• /
• 제31권4호
• /
• pp.339-346
• /
• 2017

In this study, thermal performance test of VMD module was performed, prior to the construction of the demonstration plant using the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) module of the capacity of $400m^3/day$ and to the commercialization of the VMD module. For the thermal performance test, the experimental equipment of capacity of $2m^3/day$ was constructed. The permeate flux test and thermal performance test according to feed water conditions such as temperature and flow rate were conducted. The VMD module used in the study was manufactured by ECONITY Co., LTD with PVDF hollow fiber membrane. As a result, the Performance Ratio (PR) of the VMD module showed the maximum value of 0.904 under the condition of feed water temperature of $75^{\circ}C$ and flow rate of $8m^3/h$. PR value of the VMD module using PVDF hollow fiber membrane showed linearly increasing relationship with feed water temperature and flow rate. Also, The permeate flux of the VMD module was analyzed to have maximum value of 18.25 LMH and the salt rejection was 99.99%.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• 제1권1호
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2010

Membrane distillation process was used for purification of pre-treated natural water (tap water). The rejection of inorganic and organic compounds in this process was investigated. The obtained rejection of inorganic solutes was closed to 100%, but the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) diffused through the membrane together with water vapour. The content of trihalomethanes (THMs) in the obtained distillate was two-three fold higher than that in the feed, therefore, the rejection of the total organic compounds present in the tap water was reduced to a level of 98%. The intensive membranes scaling was observed during the water separation. The morphology and composition of the fouling layer was studied using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersion spectrometry. The influence of thermal water pre-treatment performed in a heat exchanger followed by filtration on the MD process effectiveness was evaluated. This procedure caused that significantly smaller amounts of $CaCO_3$ crystallites were deposited on the membrane surface, and a high permeate flux was maintained over a period of 160 h.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• 제13권5호
• /
• pp.235-243
• /
• 2022

The paper presents the effect of operating temperatures and flow rates on the distillate flux that can be obtained from a hydrophobic membrane having the characteristics: pore size of 0.15 ㎛; thickness of 130 ㎛; and 85% porosity. That membrane in the present investigation could be the direct contact (DCMD) or the air-gap membrane distillation (AGMD). To model numerically the membrane distillation processes, the two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) is used for the DCMD and AGMD cases here. In this work, DCMD and AGMD models have been validated with the experimental data using different flows (Parallel and Counter-current flows) in non-steady-state situations. A good agreement is obtained between the present results and those of the experimental data in the literature. The new approach in the present numerical modeling has allowed examining effects of the nature of materials (Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymers, copolymers, and blends) used on thermal properties. Moreover, the effect of the area surface of the membrane (0.021 to 3.15 ㎡) is investigated to explore both the laminar and the turbulent flow regimes. The obtained results found that copolymer P(VDF-TrFE) (80/20) is more effective than the other materials of membrane distillation (MD). The mass flux and thermal efficiency reach 193.5 (g/㎡s), and 83.29 % using turbulent flow and an effective area of 3.1 ㎡, respectively. The increase of feed inlet temperatures and its flow rate, with the reduction of cold temperatures and its flow rate are very effective for increasing distillate water flow in MD applications.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• 제56권1호
• /
• pp.29-41
• /
• 2018

공비점이 존재하거나 상대휘발도 차이가 적은 2성분 혼합물은 단일 증류탑으로 분리하기 어렵다. 이때 혼합물에서 분리가 어려운 영역을 투과증발막을 사용하여 분리하면 효율적인 공정을 설계할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 물-유기용매 혼합물을 분리하기 위한 증류-투과증발막 혼성공정을 제시하고, 물-초산 혼합물과 물-에탄올 혼합물의 분리공정을 각각 모사하였다. 증류탑 상부 흐름이 친수성 막을 통과하여 물을 높은 순도로 분리하는 공정을 모사하였다. 실험과 문헌에서 얻은 친수성 막의 투과도를 토대로 막 모델을 만들어 막 면적을 계산하였다. 제시한 공정의 최적화를 위해, 목적함수를 연간 총 비용으로 정하고 주요 설계 변수들을 최적화 변수로 하여 최적화 문제를 구성하였다. 또한, 혼성공정의 각 최적화 변수의 변화에 따른 목적함수 값의 변화 추세를 나타내고 최적화 변수를 최적점에 가까운 값으로 쉽게 추측할 수 있는 방법을 제안하였다.

• 멤브레인
• /
• 제17권2호
• /
• pp.93-98
• /
• 2007

The reliability of innovative membrane contactors technology (i.e. Gas/Liquid Membrane Contactors, Membrane Distillation/Crystallization) is today increasing for seawater desalination processes, where traditional pressure-driven membrane separation units are routinely operated. Furthermore, conventional membrane operations can be integrated with membrane contactors in order to promote possible improvements in process efficiency, operational stability, environmental impact, water quality and cost. Seawater is the most abundant aqueous solution on the earth: the amount of dissolved salts covers about 3% of its composition, and six elements (Na, Mg, Ca, K, Cl, S) account for more than 90% of ionic species. Recent investigations on Membrane Distillation-Crystallization have shown the possibility to achieve significant overall water recovery factors, to limit the brine disposal problem, and to recover valuable salts (i.e. calcium sulphate, sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate) by combining this technology with conventional RO trains. In this work, the kinetics of $CaSO_4{\cdot}2H_2O,\;NaCl\;and\;MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ crystallization is experimentally investigated in order to improve the design of the membrane-based crystallization unit.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• 제5권1호
• /
• pp.41-56
• /
• 2014

A series of microporous PVDF membranes were prepared by isothermal immersionprecipitation of PVDF/TEP casting dopes in both soft and harsh coagulation baths. Morphologies of the membranes' top surfaces were found to depend strongly on the bath strength, which could be controlled by the TEP content in the bath. By changing the bath gradually from pure water to 70% TEP, the top surface evolved from a dense skin-like (asymmetric) to a totally open porous morphology (symmetric). The latter structure could similarly be obtained by precipitation of the same dope in an alcoholic bath, e.g., 1-butanol. Membrane distillation processes to desalt sodium chloride aqueous solutions were conducted using various prepared membranes and two commercial microporous membranes, PTFE (Toyo, Japan, code: J020A330R) and PVDF (GE, USA, code: YMJWSP3001). The permeation fluxes were compared and correlated with the morphologies of the tested membranes.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• 제11권5호
• /
• pp.353-361
• /
• 2020

The present study deals with a numerical investigation of heat and mass transfer in a Sweeping Gas Membrane Distillation (SGMD) used for desalination. The governing equations expressing the conservation of mass, momentum, energy and species with coupled boundary conditions were solved numerically. The slip boundary condition applied on the feed saline solution-hydrophobic membrane interface is taken into consideration showing its effects on profiles and process parameters.The numerical model was validated with available experimental data and was found to be in good agreement particularly when the slip condition is considered. The results of the simulations highlighted the effect of slip boundary condition on the velocity and temperature distributions as well as the process effectiveness. They showed in particular that as the slip length increases, the permeate flux of fresh water and process thermal efficiency rise.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• 제24권2호
• /
• pp.347-353
• /
• 2019

Although membrane distillation (MD) has great promise for desalination of saline water sources, it is crucial to improve its thermal efficiency to reduce the operating cost. Accordingly, this study intended to examine the thermal energy efficiency of MD modules in a pilot scale system. Two different modules of hollow fiber membranes were compared in direct contact MD mode. One of them was made of polypropylene with the effective membrane area of $2.6m^2$ and the other was made of polyvinylidene fluoride with the effective membrane area of $7.6m^2$. The influence of operation parameters, including the temperatures of feed and distillate, feed flow rate, and distillate flow rate on the flux, recovery, and performance ratio (PR), was investigated. Results showed that the two MD membranes showed different flux and PR values even under similar conditions. Moreover, both flow rate and temperature difference between feed and distillate significantly affect the PR values. These results suggest that the operating conditions for MD should be determined by considering the module properties.