Effect of operation parameters on the mass transfer and fouling in submerged vacuum membrane distillation crystallization (VMDC) for inland brine water treatment

Salinity impacts on humidification dehumidification (HDH) desalination systems: review

The use of humidification-dehumidification water desalination technology has been shown to be a practical means of meeting the demand for freshwater. The aim of this review is to investigate the impact of salinity on HDH techniques that have various benefits in terms of both economics and the environment, including the capacity to operate at low temperatures, utilize sustainable energy sources, the need for low maintenance, and straightforward construction requirements. Also, in this review, it is observed that the HDH system's components are strong and capable of treating severely salinized water. It can treat water in an appropriate way than other desalination technologies. This technology has recently been commercialized to treat highly salinized generated water. However, more research is needed to determine how salinity affects HDH productivity. According to several research investigations, while the specific thermal energy consumption increased considerably and the productivity of water per unit of time decreased significantly as the salt mass percentage grew, the purity of clean water did not suffer. The rejected brine must be reduced by increasing the total water recovery ratio in the HDH system. Through this review, it was found that brine control is becoming increasingly important in the water processing industry. ZLD systems, which aim to recover both freshwater and solid salts, can be a viable replacement for disposal methods. Finally, through this reviewer, it was concluded that HDH desalination systems may operate with extremely saline water while increasing salinity has a significant influence on system performance.

Challenges and advancements in membrane distillation crystallization for industrial applications

Membrane distillation crystallization (MDC) is an emerging hybrid thermal membrane technology that synergizes membrane distillation (MD) and crystallization, which can achieve both freshwater and minerals recovery from high concentrated solutions. Due to the outstanding hydrophobic nature of the membranes, MDC has been widely used in numerous fields such as seawater desalination, valuable minerals recovery, industrial wastewater treatment and pharmaceutical applications, where the separation of dissolved solids is required. Despite the fact that MDC has shown great promise in producing both high-purity crystals and freshwater, most studies on MDC remain limited to laboratory scale, and industrializing MDC processes is currently impractical. This paper summarizes the current state of MDC research, focusing on the mechanisms of MDC, the controls for membrane distillation (MD), and the controls for crystallization. Additionally, this paper categorizes the obstacles hindering the industrialization of MDC into various aspects, including energy consumption, membrane wetting, flux reduction, crystal yield and purity, and crystallizer design. Furthermore, this study also indicates the direction for future development of the industrialization of MDC.

Membrane distillation crystallization technology for zero liquid discharge and resource recovery: Opportunities, challenges and futuristic perspectives

Water resources are getting limited, which emphasises the need for the reuse of wastewater. The conventional waste(water) treatment methods such as reverse osmosis (RO) and multi-effect distillation (MED) are rendered limited due to certain limitations. Moreover, the imposition of stringent environmental regulations in terms of zero liquid discharge (ZLD) of wastewater containing very high dissolved solids has assisted in developing technologies for the recovery of water and useful solids. Membrane distillation crystallization (MDCr) is an emerging hybrid technology synergising membrane distillation (MD) and crystallization, thus achieving ZLD. MDCr technology can be applied to desalinate seawater, treat nano-filtration, and RO reject brine and industrial wastewater to increase water recovery and yield useful solids. This manuscript focuses on recent advances in MDCr, emphasizing models that account for application in (waste)water treatment. MDCr has dual benefits, first the environmental conservation due to non-disposal of wastewater and second, resources recovery proving the proverb that waste is a misplaced resource. Limitations of standalone MD and crystallization are discussed to underline the evolution of MDCr. In this review, MDCr's ability and feasibility in the treatment of industrial wastewater are highlighted. This manuscript also examines the operational issues, including crystal deposition (scaling) on the membrane surface, pore wetting phenomenon and economic consequences (energy use and operating costs). Finally, opportunities and future prospects of the MDCr technology are discussed. MDCr technology can amplify natural resources availability by recovering freshwater and useful minerals from the waste stream, thus compensating for the relatively high cost of the technology.

Membrane Distillation for Wastewater Treatment: A Mini Review

Water serves as an indispensable part of human life and production. On account of the overexploitation of traditional water sources, the demand for wastewater recycling is expanding rapidly. As a promising water treatment process, membrane distillation (MD) has been utilized in various wastewater treatments, such as desalination brine, textile wastewater, radioactive wastewater, and oily wastewater. This review summarized the investigation work applying MD in wastewater treatment, and the performance was comprehensively introduced. Moreover, the obstructions of industrialization, such as membrane fouling, membrane wetting, and high energy consumption, were discussed with the practical investigation. To cope with these problems, various strategies have been adopted to enhance MD performance, including coupling membrane processes and developing membranes with specific surface characteristics. In addition, the significance of nutrient recovery and waste heat utilization was indicated.

A novel zero-liquid discharge desalination system based on the humidification-dehumidification process: A preliminary study

As a byproduct of desalination plants, brine is increasingly becoming a threat to the environment, and the design of zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) systems is gaining increasing attention. Existing ZLD systems are limited by a high energy intensity and high plant costs of their crystallizers. This study proposes a novel crystallization method based on the humidification-dehumidification (HDH) process, which exhibits the advantages of a low energy consumption, low component costs and a reduced scaling and fouling potential. A simple experimental setup is first designed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system. Brine concentration and salt crystallization are successfully achieved with air heated to 40 °C as the heat source. Afterwards, a thermo-economic analysis is conducted for the whole system. The specific thermal energy and electricity consumption levels are found to range from 700-900 and 5-11 kJ, respectively, per kg of feed brine. The energy consumption is 56% lower than that of a conventional evaporative crystallizer, and the initial plant cost is reduced by 58%.

Cane sugar crystallization using submerged vacuum membrane distillation crystallization (SVMDC)

The performance of Submerged Vacuum Membrane Distillation and Crystallization (SVMDC) for cane sugar concentration and crystallization was investigated in this study. Using hollow fiber membrane, the effect of operation parameters, such as feed concentration, feed temperature, and feed agitation were evaluated against the permeate flux. Following the operation parameters optimization, long-term SVMDC tests were performed using cane sugar model solution and raw sugarcane juice as the feed. Porous fouling layer was formed in test using cane sugar model solution which led to membrane fouling and wetting. However, sugar crystals were successfully formed in this test, despite under-saturated final feed concentration of 73.3°Brix. This indicated the occurrence of heterogeneous crystallization in the feed solution, that was induced by the sugar crystals detached from the membrane surface. In test using raw sugarcane juice as the feed, extremely low flux was observed due to the presence of impurities. However, membrane wetting did not occur as the implication of weak drag force occurred due to the low permeate flux. In this test, there was no observable crystal formed as the final feed concentration was much lower than the saturation concentration. In addition, the impurities hindered the interaction of sucrose molecules and disrupted crystal growth.

Advances in seawater membrane distillation (SWMD) towards stand-alone zero liquid discharge (ZLD) desalination

Seawater membrane distillation (SWMD) is a promising separation technology due to its ability to operate as a stand-alone desalination unit operation. This paper reviews approaches to improve laboratory-to-pilot-scale MD performance, which comprise operational strategies, module design, and specifically tailored membranes. A detailed comparison of SWMD and sea water reverse osmosis is presented to further analyze the critical shortcomings of SWMD. The unique features of SWMD, namely the ability to operate with extremely high salt rejection and at extreme feed concentration, highlight the SWMD potential to be operated under zero liquid discharge (ZLD) conditions, which results in the production of high-purity water and simultaneous salt recovery, as well as the elimination of the brine disposal cost. However, technical challenges, such as thermal energy requirements, inefficient heat transfer and integration, low water recovery factors, and lack of studies on real-case valuable-salt recovery, are impeding the commercialization of ZLD SWMD. This review highlights the possibility of applying selected strategies to push forward ZLD SWMD commercialization. Suggestions are projected to include intermittent removal of valuable salts, in-depth study on the robustness of novel membranes, module and configuration, utilization of a low-cost heat exchanger, and capital cost reduction in a renewable-energy-integrated SWMD plant.

Mitigation of Membrane Wetting by Applying a Low Temperature Membrane Distillation

The formation of deposits on the membrane surface during membrane distillation is considered as one of the main reasons for membrane wetting. To assess the intensity of this phenomenon, long-term studies were performed comparing the membrane wettability with non-fouling feed (NaCl solutions) and feeds containing various foulants (lake and Baltic Sea water). The polypropylene membranes used were non-wetted by NaCl solutions during several hundred hours of water desalination. However, the occurrence of CaCO₃ or other salt crystallization caused the membranes to be partially wetted, especially when periodical membrane cleaning was applied. The scaling intensity was significantly reduced by lowering the feed temperature from 353 to 315 K, which additionally resulted in the limitation of the degree of membrane wetting.

The Application of Submerged Modules for Membrane Distillation

This paper deals with the efficiency of capillary modules without an external housing, which were used as submerged modules in the membrane distillation process. The commercial hydrophobic capillary membranes fabricated for the microfiltration process were applied. Several constructional variants of submerged modules were discussed. The influence of membrane arrangement, packing density, capillary diameter and length on the module performance was determined. The effect of process conditions, i.e., velocity and temperature of the streams, on the permeate flux was also evaluated. The submerged modules were located in the feed tank or in the distillate tank. It was found that much higher values of the permeate flux were obtained when the membranes were immersed in the feed with the distillate flowing inside the capillary membranes. The efficiency of submerged modules was additionally compared with the conventional membrane distillation (MD) capillary modules and a similar performance of both constructions was achieved.

Recovery of sodium sulfate from seawater brine using fractional submerged membrane distillation crystallizer

Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine contain many valuable resources. In this study, fractional-submerged membrane distillation crystallizer (F-SMDC) was used to recover sodium sulfate (Na₂SO₄) from SWRO brine. The concentration/temperature gradient (CG/TG) in the reactor enhanced water recovery utilizing MD and Na₂SO₄ crystallization via a crystallizer. Crystals were not obtained at the bottom section of the F-SMDC due to: firstly, calcium sulfate crystallization occurring on the membrane surface; and secondly, low temperature-sensitivity solubility component such as NaCl exerting a negative influence. In order to obtain supersaturation, a sulfate-rich scenario was created in the reactor through the addition of the following three components: Na₂SO₄, MgSO₄ and (NH₄)₂SO₄. When Na₂SO₄ and MgSO₄ were added, a larger concentration was observed at the top section, resulting in a low concentration gradient (CG) ratio, i.e. around 1.7. Conversely, the addition of (NH₄)₂SO₄ achieved faster Na₂SO₄ crystallization (VCF 1.42) at the bottom section with a greater CG ratio of more than 2.0. Total water recovery ratio of 72% and 223.73 g Na₂SO₄ crystals were successfully extracted from simulated SWRO brine using laboratory scale F-SMDC.

Impact of fouling, cleaning and faecal contamination on the separation of water from urine using thermally driven membrane separation

In this study, membrane distillation is evaluated as a technology for non-sewered sanitation, using waste heat to enable separation of clean water from urine. Whilst membrane fouling was observed for urine, wetting was not evident and product water quality met the proposed discharge standard, despite concentration of the feed. Fouling was reversible using physical cleaning, which is similar to previous membrane studies operating without pressure as the driving force. High COD reduction was achieved following faecal contamination, but mass transfer was impeded and wetting occurred which compromised permeate quality, suggesting upstream intervention is demanded to limit the extent of faecal contamination. (100 words).

Recovery of water and minerals from shale gas produced water by membrane distillation crystallization

Shale gas produced water (SGPW) treatment imposes greater technical challenges because of its high concentration of various contaminants. Membrane distillation crystallization (MDC) has a great potential to manage SGPW since it is capable of recovering both water and minerals at high rates, up to near a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) condition. To evaluate the feasibility of MDC for SGPW treatment, MDC performance indicators, such as water recovery rate, solid production rate (SPR) and specific energy consumption (SEC), were systematically investigated, to our knowledge for the first time, by using actual SGPW from Eagle Ford Shale (USA). The main operating parameters including feed cross-flow velocity (CFV) and crystallization temperature (T_Cr) were optimized by performing a series of MDC experiments. The results reported that water and minerals were effectively recovered with 84% of recovery rate and 2.72 kg/m²day of SPR under respective optimal operating conditions. Furthermore, the scale mechanism was firstly identified as limiting factor for MDC performance degradation. Lastly, SEC of MDC was estimated to be as low as 28.2 kWh/m³ under ideal optimal operating conditions. Our experimental observations demonstrated that MDC could sustainably and effectively recover water and mineral with low energy consumption from SGPW by optimizing operating condition.

Review: Water recovery from brines and salt-saturated solutions: operability and thermodynamic efficiency considerations for desalination technologies

BACKGROUND

When water is recovered from a saline source, a brine concentrate stream is produced. Management of the brine stream can be problematic, particularly in inland regions. An alternative to brine disposal is recovery of water and possibly salts from the concentrate.

RESULTS

This review provides an overview of desalination technologies and discusses the thermodynamic efficiencies and operational issues associated with the various technologies particularly with regard to high salinity streams.

CONCLUSION

Due to the high osmotic pressures of the brine concentrates, reverse osmosis, the most common desalination technology, is impractical. Mechanical vapor compression which, like reverse osmosis, utilizes mechanical work to operate, is reported to have the highest thermodynamic efficiency of the desalination technologies for treatment of salt-saturated brines. Thermally-driven processes, such as flash evaporation and distillation, are technically able to process saturated salt solutions, but suffer from low thermodynamic efficiencies. This inefficiency could be offset if an inexpensive source of waste or renewable heat could be used. Overarching issues posed by high salinity solutions include corrosion and the formation of scales/precipitates. These issues limit the materials, conditions, and unit operation designs that can be used.