• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.293-310
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• 2017

An ultrasonic assisting vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) system was designed to promote the heat and mass transfer in membrane distillation (MD) process. Both the effects of operating conditions and ultrasonic parameters to permeation flux in this process were investigated; the heat and mass transfer mechanism was also being discussed in this paper. The results showed that the performance of VMD process was improved significantly by ultrasonic assisting. The permeation flux was boosted at a certain feed solution temperature, pressure at permeate side and feed solution velocity whether or not to PP and PTFE. The results also indicated that ultrasonic power and frequency also was the key factor affecting the mass and transfer efficiencies. The feed side transfer coefficient ($K_f$), corresponding to ultrasonic power ($K_f=4.406-0.026{\times}P+7.824{\times}10^{-5}{\times}P^2$) and ultrasonic frequency ($K_f=0.941+0.598{\times}f-0.012{\times}f^2+6.283{\times}10^{-5}f^3$), was obtained and employed in the modeling of ultrasonic assisting VMD process. The modeling results showed that the calculated value of $K_f$ aligned with experimental results well. Both variations of temperature polarization coefficient (TPC) and concentration polarization coefficient (CPC) were studied based on the obtained data. The results showed that both TPC and CPC were improved obviously by the ultrasonic parameters.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2018

In this study, vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) was used to treat high-salinity wastewater (concentration about 17%) discharged by chlor-alkali plant after resin regeneration. The feasibility of VMD for the treatment of real saline wastewater by using Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microporous plate membrane with a pore diameter of $0.2{\mu}m$ was investigated. The effects of critical operating parameters such as feed temperature, velocity, vacuum degree and concentration on the permeate water flux were analyzed. Numerical simulation was used to predict the flux and the obtained results were in good agreement with the experimental data. The results showed that an increase in the operating conditions could greatly promote the permeate water flux which in turn decreased with an increase in the concentration. When the concentration varied from 17 to 25%, the permeate water flux dropped marginally with time indicating that the concentration was not sensitive to the decrease in permeate water flux. The permeate water flux decreased sharply until zero due to the membrane fouling resistance as the concentration varied from 25 to 26%. However, the conductivity of the produced water was well maintained and the average value was measured to be $4.98{\mu}s/cm$. Furthermore, a salt rejection of more than 99.99% was achieved. Overall, the outcome of this investigation clearly indicates that VMD has the potential for treating high-salinity wastewater.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2018

Hydrophobic porous PVDF hollow fiber membranes for Membrane Distillation (MD) were fabricated by a combination of thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) and stretching. The purpose of this study is to investigate the shape and operating conditions of the module and the effect of piping size on parallel connection. In the optimization experiment of the vacuum membrane distillation module, the flux decreased as the packing density and length of the membrane in the module increased. When the module was connected vertically, it was confirmed that the nearest to the inlet of the vacuum port was the highest flux. In selecting the size of the header pipe of the module, it was confirmed that the maximum flux is shown when the inner diameter area of the hollow fiber membrane and the inner diameter area of the header pipe are the same. Also, it is necessary to find the optimal linear velocity because the higher the linear velocity in the module, the higher the flux, but the pressure acting on the module also increases proportionally.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.248-253
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• 2014

Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD) is one of several technologies that can be used to solve problems fresh water availability. AGMD exhibits several advantages, including low conductive heat loss and higher thermal efficiency, due to the presence of an air gap between the membrane and condensation wall. A previous study by Bhardwaj found that the condensation surface properties (materials and contact angle) affected the total collected fresh water in the solar distillation process. However, the process condition differences between solar distillation and AGMD might result in different condensation phenomena. In contrast, N. Miljkovic showed that a hydrophobic surface has higher condensation heat transfer. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study that investigates the effect of condensation surface properties in AGMD to overall process performance (i.e. flux and thermal efficiency). Thus, in this study, we treated the AGMD condensation surface to make it hydrophobic or hydrophilic. The condensation surface could be made hydrophilic by immersing and boiling plate in deionized (DI) water, which caused the formation of hydrophilic aluminum hydroxide (AlOOH) nanostructures. Afterwards, the treated plate was coated using hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) through plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The result indicated that condensation surface properties do not affect the permeate flux or thermal efficiency significantly. In general, the permeate flux and thermal efficiency for the treated plates were lower than those of the non-treated plate (pristine). However, at a 1 mm and 3 mm air gap, the treated plate outperformed the non-treated plate (pristine) in terms of permeate flux. Therefore, although surface wettability effect was not significant, it still provided a little influence.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.287-298
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• 2019

Lotus leaf has a special dual micro and nano surface structure which gives its highly hydrophobic surface characteristics and so-called self cleaning effect. In order to endow PVDF hollow fiber membrane with this special structure and improve the hydrophobicity of membrane surface, PVDF hollow fiber composite membranes was obtained through the immersion coating of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) dilute solution on the outside surface of PVDF support membrane. The prepared PVDF composite membranes were used in the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) for the desalination. The effects of PVDF-HFP dilute solution concentration in the dope solution and coating time on VMD separation performance was studied. Membranes were characterized by SEM, WCA measurement, porosity, and liquid entry pressure of water. VMD test was carried out using $35g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ NaCl aqueous solution as the feed solution at feed temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ and the permeate pressure of 31.3 kPa. The vapour flux reached a maximum when PVDF-HFP concentration in the dilute solution was 5 wt% and the coating time was kept in the range of 10-60 s. This was attributed to the well configuration of micro-nano rods which was similar with the dual micro-nano structure on the lotus leaf. Compared with the original PVDF membrane, the salt rejection can be well maintained which was greater than 99.99 % meanwhile permeation water conductivity was kept at a low value of $7-9{\mu}S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ during the continuous testing for 360 h.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1994.06a
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• pp.45-58
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• 1994

Over the last 20 years, membrane separation processes, such as reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration and microfiltration, have been widely adopted by different industries. Commercial uses of membrane have displaced conventional separation processes, such as distillation, evaporation, precoat filter and so on. Membrane separation processes are often more capital and energy efficient when compared with conventional separation processes. Membrane devices and systems are almost always compact and modular. These are the well-known advantages of membrane separation processes. The disadvantage of the membrane process is that the process does not have scale merit and thus the membrane process is suitable for the small and middle size applications. Energy saving is, of course, the biggest advantage of the membrane process, and in many industries the membrane processes are employed because of this reason. Membrane process has other big advantage. In many applications membrane processes provide much higher quality of product than conventional processes. The example is ultrapure water production by membrane processes in semiconductor industry. Conventional technologies never offer such good quality of pure water. If you can obtain both energy saving and higher quality of product at the same time by membrane processes, this is the best application of membrane processes. One example is the concentration of orange juice by membrane, which has already been commercialized in Japan. Comparing with the conventional vacuum evaporation process, juice concentrated by the membrane process has much better taste and flavor and the energy consumption in the membrane process is much less than the evaporation process. In this paper, first membrane separation technology will be classified and then Japanese membrane manufacturers and new modules and devices under development in Japan will be introduced. Fourth energy saving in membrane process will be discussed and finally practical applications of membrane processes in Japan will be shown.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.369-376
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• 2023

In this study, the alternative to the energy-intensive conventional vacuum distillation process, an eco-friendly and energy-efficient pervaporation separation was employed in 1,2 hexane diol/water (HDO/water) mixture. The crosslinked PVA-glutaraldehyde was coated inside the alumina hollow fiber membrane (Al-HF). In the HDO/IPA pervaporation separation, optimization of the membrane concerning PVA/GA ratio, curing temperature, and pervaporation operating condition were performed. In the long-term stability test, the sustainable pervaporation separation performance giving flux in the range of 1.90~2.16 kg/m²h, and water content in permeate was higher than 99.5% (separation factor = 68) was obtained from the PVA/GA (molar ratio = 0.08, curing temperature = 80℃) coated Al-HF membrane from HDO/water (25/75, w/w, %) mixture at 40℃. Therefore, this work provides potential and inspiration for PVA-based membranes to mitigate excessive energy requirements in HDO/water separation by pervaporation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.816-822
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• 2011

Pervaporation is known to be a low energy consumption process since it needs only an electric power to maintain the permeate side in vacuum. Also, the pervaporation is an environmentally clean technology because it does not use the third material such as an entrainer for either an azeotropic distillation or an extractive distillation. In this study, Silicalite-1 particles are hydrothermally synthesized and polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)-zeolite composite membranes are prepared with a mixture of synthesized Silicalite-1 particles and PDMS-polymer. They are used to separate n-butanol from its aqueous solution. Pervaporation characteristics such as a permeation flux and a separation factor are investigated as a function of the feed concentration and the weight % of Silicalite-1 particles in the membrane. A 1,000 $cm^3$ aqueous solution containing butanol of low mole fraction such as order of 0.001 was used as a feed to the membrane cell while the pressure of the permeation side was kept about 0.2~0.3 torr. When the butanol concentration in the feed solution was 0.015 mole fraction, the flux of n-butanol significantly increased from 14.5 g/ $m^2$/hr to 186.3 g/$m^2$/hr as the Silicalite-1 content increased from 0 wt% to 10 wt%, indicating that the Silicalite-1 molecular sieve improved the membrane permselectivity from 4.8 to 11.8 due to its unique crystalline microporous structure and its strong hydrophobicity. Consequently, the concentration of n-butanol in the permeate substantially increased from 0.07 to 0.15 mole fraction. This composite membrane could be potentially appliable for separation of n-butanol from insitu fermentation broth where n-butanol is produced at a fairly low concentration of 0.015 mole fraction.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.1094-1100
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• 2014

TEvaporator is key component in food, seawater distillation and waste water treatment system, which is basically to concentrate the raw liquid by evaporating the pure water under vacuum condition. The liquid concentration is performed through the membrane, electro-dialysis and evaporation. In this study, only the evaporating type was treated for evaluating the economic analysis with the various operating conditions. The results of this study showed that the performance of the OT-MSF desalination system is increased with decreasing the temperature difference between the neighboring evaporators, which means that the number of evaporators is increased, under the determined design conditions.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2014

Because of the water scarcity caused by the increase of salinity in the underground water, seawater desalination stands out as one of the most promising solution. As there are so much energy costs in operating desalination plants, new hybrid process which is more effective should be researched. A geothermal VMD (vacuum membrane distillation) hybrid process is a competitive alternative for seawater desalination. Because geothermal energy has significant characteristics of high capacity factor to operate the power plant at full capacity for 24 hour per day, it can be a priority heat source of VMD superior to any other renewable energies such as solar and wind power. In this study, we design a geothermal VMD hybrid process, analyze it economically and finally compare the result with a case of conventional VMD process. Geothermal VMD hybrid process generates $23,822,409 of NPV (net present value) more than the conventional VMD process in case of 5% discount rate. The break-even point between these processes is 5.36 year. Sensitivity analysis indicates that steam cost is the most decisive influence variable to the economic outcome.