Abstract
Membrane distillation is a thermally driven process that can be adapted effectively for water desalination. Vapor pressure gradient is the main driving force for mass transfer between hot feed and a colder distillate, making membrane distillation the only desalination membrane process that can maintain productivity almost independent of solution concentration. Other advantages of membrane distillation include low energy consumption and very high-quality distillate. Moreover, feed water to the membrane distillation does not require extensive pre-treatment like reverse osmosis. A steady state mathematical model of membrane distillation system is developed based on the basic laws of energy balance, mass balance and heat transfer equations with physical properties correlations. The objective of this work is to have a fundamental understanding of membrane distillation as a promising technology in desalination. The impact of important operating and design variables on the distillate flux in direct contact membrane distillation is studied in this work. The potential application of membrane distillation in desalination particularly will also be explored by developing a rigorous mathematical model of the process.