Membrane Distillation Crystallization Applied to Brine Desalination: A Hierarchical Design Procedure

Abstract

A mathematical model for the design of membrane distillation (MD) processes applied to water recovery from brines is developed in this study. The highly saline concentration inherent in this type of system requires a robust thermodynamic method for water activity prediction and the consideration of temperature and concentration polarization effects for model accuracy. The MD model fitted reasonably well to experimental data and was further extended to incorporate balance and energy equations for a membrane distillation crystallization (MDC) process. A hierarchical design approach to be used alongside the model is suggested for MDC processes.