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Afsari M, Li Q, Karbassiyazdi E, Shon HK, Razmjou A, Tijing LD. Electrospun nanofiber composite membranes for geothermal brine treatment with lithium enrichment via membrane distillation. CHEMOSPHERE 2023; 318:137902. [PMID: 36669538 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.137902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
In this study, a composite electrospun nanofiber membrane was fabricated and used to treat a geothermal brine source with lithium enrichment. An in-situ growth technique was applied to incorporate silica nanoparticles on the surface of nanofibers with (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane as the nucleation site. The fabricated composite nanofiber membrane was heat pressed to enhance the integration of the membrane and its mechanical stability. The fabricated membranes were tested to evaluate their performance in feedwater containing different concentrations of NaCl in the range of 0-100 g/L, and the wetting resistivity of the membranes was examined. Finally, the optimal membrane was applied to treat the simulated geothermal brine. The experimental results revealed that the in-situ growth of nanoparticles and coating of flourosilane agent dramatically improved the separation performance of the membrane with high salt rejection, and adequate flux was achieved. The heat-pressed membrane obtained >99% salt rejection and flux of 14-19 L/m2h at varying feedwater salinity (0-100 g/L), and the concentration of the Li during the 24 h test reached >1100 ppm from the initial 360 ppm. Evaluation of the energy efficiency of the membranes showed that the heat-pressed membrane obtained the optimum energy efficiency in the high concentration of salts. Additionally, the economic analysis indicated that MD could achieve a levelized cost of 2.9 USD/m3 of lithium brine concentration as the heat source is within the feed. Overall, this technology would represent a viable alternative to the solar pond to concentrate Li brine, enabling a compact, efficient, and continuous operating system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morteza Afsari
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, P. O. Box 123, 15 Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia; ARC Research Hub for Nutrients in a Circular Economy, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia
| | - Qiyuan Li
- School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Kensington, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
| | - Elika Karbassiyazdi
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, P. O. Box 123, 15 Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Ho Kyong Shon
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, P. O. Box 123, 15 Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia; ARC Research Hub for Nutrients in a Circular Economy, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia
| | - Amir Razmjou
- Mineral Recovery Research Center (MRRC), School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Perth, WA, 6027, Australia; UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
| | - Leonard D Tijing
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, P. O. Box 123, 15 Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia; ARC Research Hub for Nutrients in a Circular Economy, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia.
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Cong S, Miao Q, Guo F. Mass Transfer Analysis of Air-Cooled Membrane Distillation Configuration for Desalination. MEMBRANES 2021; 11:membranes11040281. [PMID: 33920309 PMCID: PMC8069192 DOI: 10.3390/membranes11040281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
It has been proposed that the air-cooled configuration for air gap membrane distillation is an effective way to simplify the system design and energy source requirement. This offers potential for the practical applications of membrane distillation on an industrial scale. In this work, membrane distillation tests were performed using a typical water-cooled membrane distillation (WCMD) configuration and an air-cooled membrane distillation (ACMD) configuration with various condensing plates and operating conditions. To increase the permeate flux of an ACMD system, the condensing plate in the permeate side should transfer heat to the atmosphere more effectively, such as using a more thermally conductive plate, adding fins, or introducing forced convection air flow. Importantly, a practical mass transfer model was proposed to describe the ACMD performance in terms of permeate flux. This model can be simplified by introducing specific correction values to the mass transfer coefficient of a WCMD process under the same conditions. The two factors relate to the capacity (B) and the efficiency (σ), which can be considered as the characteristic factors of a membrane distillation (MD) system. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical estimations based on this model, which can be used to describe the performance of an MD process.
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Dong Y, Dai X, Zhao L, Gao L, Xie Z, Zhang J. Review of Transport Phenomena and Popular Modelling Approaches in Membrane Distillation. MEMBRANES 2021; 11:membranes11020122. [PMID: 33567617 PMCID: PMC7915881 DOI: 10.3390/membranes11020122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Revised: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In this paper, the transport phenomena in four common membrane distillation (MD) configurations and three popular modelling approaches are introduced. The mechanism of heat transfer on the feed side of all configurations are the same but are distinctive from each other from the membrane interface to the bulk permeate in each configuration. Based on the features of MD configurations, the mechanisms of mass and heat transfers for four configurations are reviewed together from the bulk feed to the membrane interface on the permeate but reviewed separately from the interface to the bulk permeate. Since the temperature polarisation coefficient cannot be used to quantify the driving force polarisation in Sweeping Gas MD and Vacuum MD, the rate of driving force polarisation is proposed in this paper. The three popular modelling approaches introduced are modelling by conventional methods, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and response surface methodology (RSM), which are based on classic transport mechanism, computer science and mathematical statistics, respectively. The default assumptions, area for applications, advantages and disadvantages of those modelling approaches are summarised. Assessment and comparison were also conducted based on the review. Since there are only a couple of full-scale plants operating worldwide, the modelling of operational cost of MD was only briefly reviewed. Gaps and future studies were also proposed based on the current research trends, such as the emergence of new membranes, which possess the characteristics of selectivity, anti-wetting, multilayer and incorporation of inorganic particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Dong
- Department of Oil Engineering, Shengli College China University of Petroleum, Dongying 257061, China; (Y.D.); (X.D.)
| | - Xiaodong Dai
- Department of Oil Engineering, Shengli College China University of Petroleum, Dongying 257061, China; (Y.D.); (X.D.)
| | - Lianyu Zhao
- YunFu (Foshan) R&D Center of Hydrogen Energy Standardization, Yunfu 527326, China;
| | - Li Gao
- South East Water Corporation, P.O. Box 2268, Seaford, VIC 3198, Australia;
| | - Zongli Xie
- CSIRO Manufacturing, Private Bag 10, Clayton South MDC, VIC 3169, Australia;
| | - Jianhua Zhang
- Institute for Sustainable Industries & Liveable Cities, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 8001, Australia
- Correspondence:
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