Vacuum Membrane Distillation for Desalination of Ground Water by using Flat Sheet Membrane

The possibility of producing drinking water from brackish ground water using Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process was studied. It is a rising technology for seawater or brine desalination process. The process simply consists of a flat sheet hydrophobic micro porous PTFE membrane and diaphragm vacuum pump without a condenser for the water recovery or trap. In this work, VMD performance was investigated for aqueous NaCl solution and natural ground water. The influence of operational parameters such as feed flow rate (30 to 55 l/h), feed temperature (313 to 333 K), feed salt concentration (5000 to 7000 mg/l) and permeate pressure (1.5 to 6 kPa) on the membrane distillation (MD) permeation flux have been investigated. The maximum flux reached to 28.34 kg/m2 h at feed temperature, 333 K; vacuum pressure, 1.5 kPa; feed flow rate, 55 l/h and feed salt concentration, 7000 mg/l. The negligible effects in the reduction of permeate flux found over 150 h experimental run for salt water. But for the natural ground water application over 75 h, scale deposits observed on the membrane surface and 29% reduction in the permeate flux over 75 h. This reduction can be eliminated by acidification of feed water. Hence, promote the research attention in apply of VMD for the ground water purification over today-s conventional RO operation.

Authors:

• Bhausaheb L. Pangarkar
• M.G. Sane
• Saroj B. Parjane
• Mahendra Guddad

Keywords:

• VMD
• hydrophobic PTFE flat membrane
• desalination
• ground water

References:

[1] Yajing Li and Kunpeng Tian, "Application of vacuum membrane
distillation in water treatment," J. Sustainable Development, vol. 2, no.
3, 2009, pp. 183-186.
[2] Lauren F. Greenlee, Desmond F. Lawler, Beeny D. Freeman, Benoit
Marrot, "Reverse osmosis desalination: Water sources, technology, and
today-s challenges," Water Research, vol. 43, 2009, pp. 2317-2348.
[3] O. T. Komeslia, K. Teschnerb, W. Hegemannb, C. F. Gokcay, "Vacuum
membrane applications in domestic wastewater reuse," Desalination,
vol. 215, 2007, pp. 22-28.
[4] G.W. Meindersma, C.M. Guijt, A.B. de Haan, "Desalination and water
recycling by air gap membrane distillation," Desalination, vol. 187,
2006, pp. 291-301.
[5] Jingli Xu, Michio Furuswa, Akira Ito, "Air-sweep vacuum membrane
distillation using fine silicone rubber, hallow -fiber membranes,"
Desalination, vol. 191, 2006, pp. 223-231.
[6] David Wirth, Corinne Cabassud, "Water desalination using membrane
distillation: comparison between inside/out and outside/in permeation,"
Desalination, vol. 147, 2002, pp. 139-145.
[7] M. Khayet, M.P. Godino, J.I. Mengual, "Theoretical and experimental
studies on desalination using the sweeping gas membrane distillation
method," Desalination, vol. 157, 2003, pp. 297-305.
[8] Tinu Abhraham, Amit Luthra, "Socio-economic and technical
assessment of photovoltaic powered membrane desalination processes
for India," Desalination, vol. 268, 2011, pp. 238-248.
[9] Toraj Mohammadi, Mohammad Ali Safavi, "Application of Taguchi
method in optimization of desalination by vacuum membrane
distillation," Desalination, vol. 249, 2009, pp. 83-89.
[10] Marek Gryta, "Desalination of thermally softened water by membrane
distillation process," Desalination, vol. 257, 2010, pp. 30-35.
[11] Na Tang, Q. Jia, H. Zhang, J. Li, S. Cao, "Preparation and
morphological characterization of narrow pore size distributed
polypropylene hydrophobic membranes for vacuum membrane
distillation via thermally induced phase separation," Desalination, vol.
256, 2010, pp. 27-36.
[12] M. Khayet, "Membranes and theoretical modeling of membrane
distillation: A review," Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, In
press, 2010.
[13] Sai R. Pinappu, "Composite membranes for membrane distillation
desalination process," Final report, New Mexico State University, 2010.
[14] Mohammadali Safavi, Toraj Mohammadi, "High -salinity water
desalination using VMD," Chem. Eng. J., vol. 149, 2009, pp. 191-195.
[15] Yanbin Yun, Runyu Ma, Wenzhen Zhang, A.G. Fane, Jiding Li, "Direct
contact membrane distillation mechanism for high concentration NaCl
solutions," Desalination, vol. 188, 2006, pp. 251-262.
[16] A.M. Islam, "Membrane distillation process for pure water and removal
of Arsenic," Msc Thesis, 2004.
[17] T. Mohammadi, M. Akbarabadi, "Separation of ethylene glycol solution
by vacuum membrane distillation (VMD)," Desalination, vol. 181, 2005,
pp. 35-41.
[18] Ying Xu, Bao-Ku Zhu, You-yi Xu, "Pilot test of vacuum membrane
distillation for desalination on a ship," Desalination, vol. 189, 2006, pp.
165-169.
[19] Zhao Jin, Da Ling Yang, Shou Hai Zhang, Xi Gao Jian, "Hydrophobic
modification of poly (phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone) hollow fiber
membrane for vacuum membrane distillation," J. Membr. Sci., vol. 310,
2008, pp. 20-27.
[20] J.I. Mengual, M. Khayet, M.P. Godino, "Heat and mass transfer in
vacuum membrane distillation," Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 47,
2004, pp. 865-875.
[21] Kevin W. Lawson, Douglas R. Lloyd, "Membrane distillation. I. Module
design and performance evaluation using vacuum membrane
distillation," J. Membr. Sci., vol. 120, 1996, pp. 111-121.
[22] Fawzi Banat , Fahmi Abu Al-Rub, Khalid Bani-Melhem, "Desalination
by vacuum membrane distillation: sensitivity analysis," Separation and
Purification Technology, vol. 33, 2003, pp. 75 - 87.
[23] J.P. Mericq, S. Laborie, C. Cabasuud, "Vacuum membrane distillation
for an integrated seawater desalination process," Desalination and water
treatment, vol. 9, 2009, pp. 293-302.
[24] B.L. Pangarkar, P.V. Thorat, S.B. Parjane, R.M. Abhnag, "Performance
evaluation of vacuum membrane distillation for desalination by using a
flat sheet membrane," Desalination and Water Treatment, vol. 21, 2010,
pp. 328-334.
[25] Alaa Kullab, Andrew Martin, "Membrane distillation and applications
for water purification in thermal cogeneration plants," Separation and
Purification Technology, vol. 76, 2011, pp. 231-237.