Membrane distillation against a pressure difference
LV van der Ham (TNO)
N.J.M. Kuipers (TNO)
J.H. Hanemaaijer (TNO)
T.J.H. Vlugt (TU Delft - Engineering Thermodynamics)
S Kjelstrup (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU))
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Abstract
Membrane distillation is an attractive technology for production of fresh water from seawater. The MemPower®MemPower® concept, studied in this work, uses available heat (86 °C) to produce pressurized water (2.2 bar and 46 °C) by membrane distillation, which again can be used to power a turbine for co-production of electricity. We develop a non-equilibrium thermodynamic model to accurately describe the transfer at the liquid-membrane interfaces, as well as through the hydrophobic membrane. The model can explain the observed mass flux, and shows that 85% of the energy is dissipated at the membrane-permeate interface. It appears that the system's performance will benefit from a lower interface resistance to heat transfer, in particular at the permeate side of the membrane. The nature of the membrane polymer and the pore diameter may play a role in this context.
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