Air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) experiments were performed with varied temperature and varied module inclination angles to characterize the effect of module angle on permeate production and thermal performance. While AGMD is potentially one of the most energy efficient membrane distillation configurations, transport resistances in the air gap typically dominate the thermal performance, res...

Arsenic contamination in shallow tubewell water is a serious health issue in Bangladesh and other Southeast Asian countries. Rural and remote areas in these locations continue to face tremendous challenges in providing access to affordable and safe arsenic-free drinking water. In recent years, intensive efforts have been undertaken to identify appropriate technologies for arsenic removal. This ...

In this study, process enhancements achieved by the use of 3D printed feed spacers based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) were comparatively assessed using two most common membrane distillation (MD) configurations: air gap (AGMD) and direct contact (DCMD). The MD performance was impact spacer design (TPMS vs. commercial spacer) flux channel pressure drop, their consequent levelized co...

New developments in pressure- and thermally driven membrane desalination technologies offer the potential to cost-effectively treat high-salinity waters, especially when powered by low-cost solar electricity thermal energy. This paper presents a comparative techno-economic assessment of state-of-the-art most promising for high recovery desalination, namely, osmotically-assisted reverse osmosis ...

Membrane desalination (MD) is preferred over other techniques since it requires a lower temperature gradient. Its performance can be further enhanced by preheating the intake of saline water. In this context, novel solar-assisted air gap membrane (AGMD) system was hypothesized. The motivation derived from fact that use solar energy to provide power and pre-heating source for water offer sustain...

This study investigates the efficiency of low-power ultrasound in range 3.5–30.0 W to improve permeate flux and alleviate membrane fouling an air–gap distillation (AGMD) system. Natural groundwater reverse osmosis (RO) reject water were fed into AGMD system on which experiments conducted with hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane. After 35 h operation RO water, caused decrease by ...