Membrane Contactors for High Temperature Applications

Abstract

It is going to be evaluated the availability of the MC process, particularly the Sweeping Gas Membrane Distillation (SGMD), to perform the regeneration of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) from diammonium phosphate (DAP) and the study of the main parameters to perform the scale up of the process to an industrial level. Making focus on the selection and characterization of suitable membranes for the process and the design-development of SGMD pilot plant and test for the evaluation of the operative parameters. The main requirement for the MC technology application is bank on suitable membranes for the process. This must act as a barrier for one of the phases on contact and should enable the mass transport of volatile components. For operative reasons is preferable to hold back the aqueous phase, making the use of hydrophobic membranes imperative. The hydrophobic membrane character of the membranes is a critical argument for the MC process and is one of the main drawback for the massive application of this technology. Many studies to evaluate the hydrophobic character have been performed and continues to be a trend topic on the MC scenario. However few studies have been done to evaluate the variation of the hydrophobicity with the temperature and none of them to evaluate the effect of temperature above the normal water boiling point.