Abstract
New thermally driven processes configuration based on the porous condenser (instead of non-porous cooling plate) and using permeate as a coolant was suggested and successfully proven for two processes: (i) membrane distillation with porous condenser (MD-PC) tested for the desalination of model NaCI solutions of 5-40 g/I and (ii) thermopervaporation with porous condenser (TPV-PC) tested for the removal of n-butanol from its 1 wt.% aqueous solution. In both cases, the experiments were carried out at different orientations of the membrane module. No noticeable difference for MD-PC and TPV-PC performance, including the worst case scenario for conventional AGMD when the membrane was located horizontally under the air gap, was observed. In addition, in contrast to the conventional AGMD, stable MD-PC, and TPV-PC performance was demonstrated at extremely low air gap width of 0.1-1 mm. The water fluxes up to 21 kg/m(2) h and salt rejection higher than 99% were attained for MD-PC, and the total flux of 1 kg/m2 h for TPV-PC separation of 1 wt.% butanol-water mixture was obtained which is comparable with the conventional vacuum PV. Potential applications for the new thermally driven processes such as space and marine can be identified. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.