Desalination of Saline Water Using Direct Contact Membrane Distillation

The objective of this study was to use the membrane distillation process for saline water desalination using available commercial membranes and evaluate their performance in desalination. Direct contact membrane distillation with membrane of 0.014 m2 dimensions was used.Available commercial hydrophobic membrane with various pore sizes manufactured by different suppliers, were used. For all membranes, flux experiments were carried out at the same conditions. Results show that PTFE membranes with pore size of 0.45 and 1.0ìm provides better performance. Also, the effect of support layer on flux and salt rejection surveyed. PTFE membrane with pore size of 0.45ìm and scrim support had higher flux and salt rejection. Experiments showed that PTFE membrane with active layer thickness of 0.005 mm has higher flux and salt rejection. In all cases high salt rejection, more than 99% could be reached.