Performance Evaluation of Solar Assisted Membrane Distillation for Seawater Desalination Using Solar Simulator
Abstract
The increase in freshwater demand and environmental pollution is leading to an increase in the use
of renewable energy for the seawater desalination system. The emerging potential in seawater desalination
technology is a solar assisted membrane distillation (SAMD) where thermal energy is supplied from the solar
thermal collector to the membrane module. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of inhouse made SAMD system for seawater application in terms of the permeate flux and salt rejection using solar
simulator. In this work, Flat Plate Solar Thermal Collector (FPSC) system was designed to preheat the simulated
and actual seawater as the feed solution for indoor assessment. 2.5 wt.% of sodium chloride (NaCl) was used
represents the standard seawater. The heat radiation intensity remained constant during the experiment by using
the tungsten lamps which are widely used as a solar simulator. During simulated seawater testing, the initial
permeate flux of 3.86 kg/h.m² was obtained, then increased up to 5.39 kg/h.m², with almost 39.4% increment.
This shows a similar trend with seawater MD processes. Nonetheless, the flux slightly decreased until 4.06
kg/h.m², showing about 24.7% flux reduction. Then, the flux remains decreased at a slower rate down to 3.90
kg/h.m². The declining trend in permeate flux can be attributed to the low evaporation area affected by the NaCl
crystallization due to the partial membrane pore blockage. Nevertheless, the membrane still obtained 99% salt
rejection in all experiments.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Engineering |
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | December 31, 2022 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2022Volume: 21 |
