Novel Thermal Efficiency-Based Model for Determination of Thermal Conductivity of Membrane Distillation Membranes

Craig Turchi, Johan Vanneste, John Bush, Kerri Hickenbottom, Christopher Marks, David Jassby, Tzahi Cath

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Development and selection of membranes for membrane distillation (MD) could be accelerated if all performance-determining characteristics of the membrane could be obtained during MD operation without the need to recur to specialized or cumbersome porosity or thermal conductivity measurement techniques. By redefining the thermal efficiency, the Schofield method could be adapted to describe the flux without prior knowledge of membrane porosity, thickness, or thermal conductivity. A total of 17 commercially available membranes were analyzed in terms of flux and thermal efficiency to assess their suitability for application in MD. The model described the flux with an average %RMSE of 4.5%, which was in the same range as the standard deviation of the measured flux. The redefinition of the thermal efficiency also enabled MD to be used as a novel thermal conductivity measurement device for thin porous hydrophobic films that cannot be measured with the conventional laser flash diffusivity technique.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)298-308
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume548
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5500-68956

Keywords

  • Conductive heat transfer coefficient
  • Desalination
  • Low-grade heat
  • Membrane distillation
  • Thermal conductivity
  • Thermal efficiency

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