Study on the synergistic heat transfer of double boundary layers in the jacketed vacuum membrane distillation process

Abstract

During the process of membrane distillation (MD) heat recovery, due to the adverse effects of the heat exchange boundary layer and membrane surface boundary layer, the latent heat is hindered in its transfer and ultimately leading to the loss of heat recovery and mass transfer capacity of the system. In this study, a novel type of jacketed hollow fiber vacuum membrane distillation module (J-HF-VMD-M) has been successfully developed. It has the dual functions of “feed evaporation” and “vapor condensation”, which is helpful in reducing the volume and complexity of the system. Based on the structural characteristics of the jacketed module, a “Synergistic heat transfer model of double boundary layers” (SHT-DBL Model) is proposed for the first time. Compared with the previous “independent heat transfer” method between boundary layers, the “synergistic heat transfer” can overcome the above challenges more effectively. Compared with the non-heat recovery process in experimental range, the equivalent membrane distillation flux of the jacketed-type heat recovery process increased by 246.1 %, especially the gain output ratio increased by 145.1 %, and the corresponding increment is more significant than that of the traditional heat recovery process.