Yang, Xing, Yu, Hui, Wang, Rong and Fane, Anthony G (2012) Membrane Distillation: Hollow Fiber Module Design and CFD Modeling. In: Northern American Membrane Society (NAMS) conference, June 9-13, 2012, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Abstract

Membrane distillation (MD), which involves mass- and heat-transfer phenomena, is a promising technique for desalination. There are two main challenges for its practical applications, namely the availability of highly permeable membranes and suitable modules with improved hydrodynamics. Hence, this study focuses on: (1) designing novel configurations and accessing module performance for an enhanced MD process in terms of flow distribution, temperature-polarization (TP) effect and mass flux; and (2) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to analyze the heat-transfer phenomenon in a hollow fiber module. Overall, performance metrics (e.g., heat-transfer coefficients, temperature profiles, TP coefficients, mass flux and thermal efficiency) are examined. The aim of this combined study is to provide a deep insight into the heat- and mass-transfer phenomena in the direct contact MD (DCMD) process and guide further optimization of MD operation for enhancement.

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