Experimental study on a multi-stage air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) unit

Bahar, Rubina and Hawlader, Mohammad Nurul Alam and Ng, K. C. and Yee, Jiun Haw (2014) Experimental study on a multi-stage air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) unit. Jurnal Teknologi, 69 (9). pp. 89-92. ISSN 2180–3722 (O), 0127–9696 (P)

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Abstract

Membrane distillation (MD) is a separation process that involves vapour transport through a hydrophobic membrane. The evaporation is caused by the partial pressure difference between a hot fluid and cold fluid/surface. In this study, an air gap MD (AGMD) process is utilized to produce freshwater from saline solution. A multi-stage AGMD unit with 0.45 micro-m pore size Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) membranes is built and experiments have been carried out with different operating variables including feed temperature, coolant temperature, air gap width and feed inlet concentration. A maximum of 12.9 kg/m2 of distillate flux was obtained per kWh energy input from the multi-stage MD unit while for a previously built single-stage MD unit, the highest water/power ratio obtained was only 2.3 kg /m2 kWh. This variation indicates that multistaging is necessary for efficient energy use in MD system.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Additional Information:	7007/39101
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Air gap membrane distillation (AGMD); hydrophobic membrane; PVDF membrane; multi-stage membrane distillation; energy efficiency; water/power ration
Subjects:	T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering > TD201 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery > TJ163.26 Energy conservation
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Engineering
Depositing User:	Dr Rubina Bahar
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2014 09:40
Last Modified:	06 Sep 2017 15:38
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/39101

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