Title
Membrane distillation against a pressure difference
Author
Keulen, L.
van der Ham, L.V.
Kuipers, N.J.M.
Hanemaaijer, J.H.
Vlugt, T.J.H.
Kjelstrup, S.
Publication year
2017
Abstract
Membrane distillation is an attractive technology for production of fresh water from seawater. The MemPower® concept, studied in this work, uses available heat (86 °C) to produce pressurized water (2.2 bar and 46 °C) by membrane distillation, which again can be used to power a turbine for co-production of electricity. We develop a non-equilibrium thermodynamic model to accurately describe the transfer at the liquid-membrane interfaces, as well as through the hydrophobic membrane. The model can explain the observed mass flux, and shows that 85% of the energy is dissipated at the membrane-permeate interface. It appears that the system's performance will benefit from a lower interface resistance to heat transfer, in particular at the permeate side of the membrane. The nature of the membrane polymer and the pore diameter may play a role in this context. © 2016 The Authors
Subject
Life
FI - Functional Ingredients
ELSS - Earth, Life and Social Sciences
Food and Nutrition
Nutrition
Healthy Living
Heat and mass transfer
Irreversible thermodynamics
Membrane distillation
MemPower
Water desalination
Desalination
Distillation
Heat resistance
Heat transfer
Mass transfer
Thermodynamics
Water filtration
Heat and mass transfer
Irreversible thermodynamics
Membrane distillation
MemPower
Water desalination
Membranes
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a89f407f-67af-4391-bc7a-f9efe8e6ca08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.10.054
TNO identifier
575113
ISSN
0376-7388
Source
Journal of Membrane Science, 524, 151-162
Document type
article