Optimizing Membrane Distillation with Solar Thermal Collectors

Authors

Andrew Mason, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Ben Shulders, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Siamak Nejati, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

Summer 9-10-2020

Document Type

Presentation

Citation

Mason, Andrew. “Optimizing Membrane Distillation with Solar Thermal Collectors.” DigitalCommons- University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 8 Sept. 2020.

Comments

Copyright 2020 Andy Mason

Abstract

With rising human populations, the demand for freshwater is an ever-growing problem. One emerging technology to combat this problem is membrane distillation (MD). MD has several advantages for water desalination including 100% rejection of solute (salt, heavy metals, etc.) and mergeability with other affordable energy sources (solar heat, electric resistance, etc.) However, at the moment the specific energy consumption (SEC) of MD is very high due to low water production rates and large energy inputs to heat water. In a solar‐assisted design for MD, the high cost of solar collectors (~$200/m2) inhibits the low cost of water production in comparison to reverse osmosis (RO).[1] Low water production rates for MD designs can be addressed with high‐performance membranes and distillation modules. Solar‐integrated devices will improve MD efficiencies and make it a marketable technology for desalination processes. This research poster shows great improvement upon current MD efficiencies