scholarly journals Employing full factorial design and response surface methodology for optimizing direct contact membrane distillation operational conditions in desalinating the rejected stream of a reverse osmosis unit at Esfahan refinery–Iran

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 492-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ebadi ◽  
M. R. Mozdianfard ◽  
M. Aliabadi

Abstract Optimized condition for desalination of the reverse osmosis (RO) rejected stream from Esfahan Oil Refining Company (EORC) using direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane was investigated here, having designed a set of 34 experiments using response surface methodology (RSM) and full factorial design (FFD) modelling, carried out in a laboratory scale set-up built for this purpose. Statistical criteria for validation, significance, accuracy and adequacy confirmed the suitability of the quadratic polynomial model employed. Response plots and regression equations suggested that the permeate flux response improved with increased feed temperature, reduced permeate temperature and enhanced feed flow rate. Optimizing DCMD process showed that maximum permeate flux of 60.76 L/m2·h could be achieved at the following optimum operational conditions: feed temperature and flow rate of 70 °C and 2 L/min, respectively, as well as the permeate temperature of 15 °C. At this point, the mean annual energy required for 90% water recovery (36 m3/h off the RO brackish rejected stream) at EORC refinery was found to be 96 GJ, which could be supplied using solar or conventional energy systems at Isfahan, facing a very critical water shortage at present.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Ahmed Shamil Khalaf ◽  
Asrar Abdullah Hassan

Membrane distillation (MD) is a hopeful desalination technique for brine (salty) water. In this research, Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) and  Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD) will be used. The sample used is from Shat Al –Arab water (TDS=2430 mg/l). A polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) flat sheet membrane was used as a flat sheet form with a plate and frame cell. Several parameters were studied, such as; operation time, feed temperature, permeate temperature, feed flow rate. The results showed that with time, the flux decreases because of the accumulated fouling and scaling on the membrane surface. Feed temperature and feed flow rate had a positive effect on the permeate flux, while permeate temperature had a reverse effect on permeate flux. It is noticeable that the flux in DCMD is greater than AGMD, at the same conditions. The flux in DCMD is 10.95LMH, and that in AGMD is 7.14 LMH.  In AGMD, the air gap layer made a high resistance. Here the temperature transport reduces in the permeate side of AGMD due to the air gap resistance. The heat needed for AGMD is lower than DCMD, this leads to low permeate flux because the temperature difference between the two sides is very small, so the driving force (vapor pressure) is low.                                                                                               


Desalination ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 423 ◽  
pp. 149-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongsen Yan ◽  
Haiyang Yang ◽  
Fangshu Qu ◽  
Huarong Yu ◽  
Heng Liang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Hafiz M. Ahmad ◽  
Atia E. Khalifa ◽  
Mohamed A. Antar

Membrane distillation (MD) is a separation technique used for water desalination, which operates at low feed temperatures and pressures. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) is one of the common MD configurations where both the hot saline feed stream and the cold permeate stream are in direct contact with the two membrane surfaces. An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of operating conditions such as feed temperature, feed flow rate, permeate temperature, and permeate flow rate on the system output flux. To check the effect of membrane degradation, the MD system was run continuously for 48 hours with raw seawater as feed and the reduction in system flux with time was observed. Results showed that increasing the feed temperature, decreasing the permeate temperature, increasing the feed and permeate flow rate yield an increase in flux. The effects of feed temperature and feed flow rate are the most significant parameters. After 48 hours of system continuous operation flux was reduced by 42.4 % but the quality of permeate (as measured by its TDS) is still very high with salt rejection factor close to 100 %. For the DCMD system under consideration, the GOR values remain between 0.8 and 1.2, for the tested range of operating temperatures.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 493
Author(s):  
Amine Charfi ◽  
Fida Tibi ◽  
Jeonghwan Kim ◽  
Jin Hur ◽  
Jinwoo Cho

This study aims to investigate the effect of operational conditions on organic fouling occurring in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system used to treat wastewater. A mixed solution of sodium alginate (SA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a feed solution to simulate polysaccharides and proteins, respectively, assumed as the main organic foulants. The permeate flux was observed at two feed temperatures 35 and 50 °C, as well as three feed solution pH 4, 6, and 8. Higher permeate flux was observed for higher feed temperature, which allows higher vapor pressure. At higher pH, a smaller particle size was detected with lower permeate flux. A mathematical model based on mass balance was developed to simulate permeate flux with time by assuming (i) the cake formation controlled by attachment and detachment of foulant materials and (ii) the increase in specific cake resistance, the function of the cake porosity, as the main mechanisms controlling membrane fouling to investigate the fouling mechanism responsible of permeate flux decline. The model fitted well with the experimental data with R2 superior to 0.9. High specific cake resistance fostered by small particle size would be responsible for the low permeate flux observed at pH 8.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adnan Alhathal Alanezi ◽  
H. Abdallah ◽  
E. El-Zanati ◽  
Adnan Ahmad ◽  
Adel O. Sharif

A new O-ring flat sheet membrane module design was used to investigate the performance of Vacuum Membrane Distillation (VMD) for water desalination using two commercial polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) flat sheet hydrophobic membranes. The design of the membrane module proved its applicability for achieving a high heat transfer coefficient of the order of 103 (W/m2 K) and a high Reynolds number (Re). VMD experiments were conducted to measure the heat and mass transfer coefficients within the membrane module. The effects of the process parameters, such as the feed temperature, feed flow rate, vacuum degree, and feed concentration, on the permeate flux have been investigated. The feed temperature, feed flow rate, and vacuum degree play an important role in enhancing the performance of the VMD process; therefore, optimizing all of these parameters is the best way to achieve a high permeate flux. The PTFE membrane showed better performance than the PVDF membrane in VMD desalination. The obtained water flux is relatively high compared to that reported in the literature, reaching 43.8 and 52.6 (kg/m2 h) for PVDF and PTFE, respectively. The salt rejection of NaCl was higher than 99% for both membranes.


Author(s):  
Danielle Park ◽  
Elnaz Norouzi ◽  
Chanwoo Park

A small-scale Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) system was built to investigate its water distillation performance for varying inlet temperatures and flow rates of feed and permeate streams, and salinity. A counterflow configuration between the feed and permeate streams was used to achieve an efficient heat exchange. A two-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was developed and validated using the experimental results. The numerical results were compared with the experiments and found to be in good agreement. From this study, the most desirable conditions for distilled water production were found to be a higher feed water temperature, lower permeate temperature, higher flow rate and less salinity. The feed water temperature had a greater impact on the water production than the permeate water temperature. The numerical simulation showed that the water mass flux was maximum at the inlet of the feed stream where the feed temperature was the highest and rapidly decreased as the feed temperature decreased.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Wan Cho ◽  
Gihoon Kwon ◽  
Jeongmin Han ◽  
Hocheol Song

In this study, the influence of humic acid on the treatment of coalbed methane water by direct contact membrane distillation was examined with bench-scale test unit. During short-term distillation (1000 min), high level of humic acid above 50 ppm resulted in significant decrease in permeate flux, while low level of humic acid (∼2 ppm) had little influence on the flux. For the long-term distillation (5000 min), the flux decline began at 3400 min in the presence of 5 ppm humic acid and 5 mM Ca2+, and decreased to ∼40% of initial flux at 5000 min. The spectroscopic analysis of the membrane used revealed that the surface was covered by hydrophilic layers mainly composed of calcite. The membrane fouling effect of humic acid became more significant in the presence of Ca2+ due to more facile calcite formation on the membrane surface. It was demonstrated that humic acid enhanced CaCO3 deposition on the membrane surfaces, thereby expediting the scaling phenomenon.


Desalination ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 420 ◽  
pp. 79-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Sanmartino ◽  
M. Khayet ◽  
M.C. García-Payo ◽  
H. El-Bakouri ◽  
A. Riaza

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document