Power effect of ultrasonically vibrated spacers in air gap membrane distillation: Theoretical and experimental investigations

Al-juboori, RA; Naji, O; Bowtell, L; Alpatova, A; Soukane, S; Ghaffour, N

Power effect of ultrasonically vibrated spacers in air gap membrane distillation: Theoretical and experimental investigations

Al-juboori, RA Naji, O

Bowtell, L Alpatova, A Soukane, S Ghaffour, N

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Publisher:: Elsevier BV
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Separation and Purification Technology, 2021, 262, pp. 118319-118319
Issue Date:: 2021-05-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Al-juboori, RA
dc.contributor.author	Naji, O https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5409-0687
dc.contributor.author	Bowtell, L
dc.contributor.author	Alpatova, A
dc.contributor.author	Soukane, S
dc.contributor.author	Ghaffour, N
dc.date.accessioned	2021-04-29T09:26:30Z
dc.date.available	2021-04-29T09:26:30Z
dc.date.issued	2021-05-01
dc.identifier.citation	Separation and Purification Technology, 2021, 262, pp. 118319-118319
dc.identifier.issn	1383-5866
dc.identifier.issn	1873-3794
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/148542
dc.description.abstract	This study investigates the efficiency of low-power ultrasound in the range of 3.5–30.0 W to improve permeate flux and alleviate membrane fouling in an air–gap membrane distillation (AGMD) system. Natural groundwater and reverse osmosis (RO) reject water were fed into the AGMD system on which fouling experiments were conducted with hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane. After 35 h of AGMD system operation with groundwater and RO reject water, fouling caused the permeate flux to decrease by 30% and 40% respectively. Concentration polarization, intermediate pore blocking, and cake filtration appear to be the main reasons for flux decline with both feedwater types. Ultrasound application for a short period of 15 min resulted in flux improvement by as high as 400% and 250% for RO reject and groundwater, respectively. Modelling of the heat and mass transfers showed that the flux increase was mainly due to membrane permeability improvements under ultrasonic vibration. Fouling visualisation using Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that ultrasound effectively removed membrane fouling without compromising the membrane's structure. Importantly, permeate flux improvements with targeted low-power ultrasound appears to be proportionally higher than those of high-power ultrasound applied to the whole system, on a flux improvement per ultrasound W/m basis. 2
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier BV
dc.relation	Qatar Foundation
dc.relation.ispartof	Separation and Purification Technology
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.seppur.2021.118319
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0301 Analytical Chemistry, 0904 Chemical Engineering
dc.subject.classification	Chemical Engineering
dc.title	Power effect of ultrasonically vibrated spacers in air gap membrane distillation: Theoretical and experimental investigations
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	262
utslib.for	0301 Analytical Chemistry
utslib.for	0904 Chemical Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-04-29T09:26:25Z
pubs.publication-status	Accepted
pubs.volume	262

Abstract:

This study investigates the efficiency of low-power ultrasound in the range of 3.5–30.0 W to improve permeate flux and alleviate membrane fouling in an air–gap membrane distillation (AGMD) system. Natural groundwater and reverse osmosis (RO) reject water were fed into the AGMD system on which fouling experiments were conducted with hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane. After 35 h of AGMD system operation with groundwater and RO reject water, fouling caused the permeate flux to decrease by 30% and 40% respectively. Concentration polarization, intermediate pore blocking, and cake filtration appear to be the main reasons for flux decline with both feedwater types. Ultrasound application for a short period of 15 min resulted in flux improvement by as high as 400% and 250% for RO reject and groundwater, respectively. Modelling of the heat and mass transfers showed that the flux increase was mainly due to membrane permeability improvements under ultrasonic vibration. Fouling visualisation using Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that ultrasound effectively removed membrane fouling without compromising the membrane's structure. Importantly, permeate flux improvements with targeted low-power ultrasound appears to be proportionally higher than those of high-power ultrasound applied to the whole system, on a flux improvement per ultrasound W/m basis. 2

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/148542