Fouling in direct contact membrane distillation process

The formation of deposit on the membrane surface (fouling) is one of the major operating problems of membrane distillation process. The influence of fouling on the performance of this process was investigated during the concentration of wastewater with proteins, bilge water, brines, and the production of demineralized water. The experiments were performed with polypropylene capillary membranes. The morphology and composition of the fouling layer were studied using Fourier transform infrared with diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled with the energy dispersing spectrometry. Fouling with various intensity was observed in most of the studied cases. Permeate flux decline was mainly caused by an increase in the heat resistance of the fouling layer. However in the case of non-porous deposit, a magnitude of the permeate flux was also determined by a resistance of water transport through the deposit layer. It was found the deposits were formed not only on the membrane surface, but also inside the pores. Salt crystallization in the membrane pores besides their wetting, also caused the mechanical damage of the membrane structure. The intensity of the fouling can be limited by the pretreatment of feed and a selection of the operating conditions of membrane distillation. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.