Indexed by:Journal Papers

Date of Publication:2020-05-01

Journal:DESALINATION

Included Journals:SCIE、EI

Volume:481

ISSN:0011-9164

Key Words:Material gap membrane distillation; Heat and mass transfer; Thermal efficiency; Permeate flux; Fillers

Abstract:Filling the air gap with solid materials is an effective way to enhance the permeate flux of the membrane distillation. This work applies various materials as the fillers and analyzes the transport performance of the material gap membrane distillation desalination processes. The results demonstrate that the properties and structures of the fillers are important factors for the transport behavior during the membrane distillation processes. The void volume fraction of the gap is dominated by the size of the fillers and their packing structure. The membrane distillation performance is related to the thermal conductivity of the fillers and the void volume fraction of the gap. Fillers with high thermal conductivity can enhance the permeate flux. The wettability of the fillers has an insignificant effect on the permeate flux. The theoretical thermal conductivity of the material gap is proposed. The transport behavior in the material gap membrane distillation process is dominated by the thermal resistance in the gap.