Development of Hydrophobic Coal-Fly-Ash-Based Ceramic Membrane for Vacuum Membrane Distillation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Experimental Procedures
2.1. Materials
2.2. Preparation of CFA-Based Ceramic Membranes
2.3. Preparation of Hydrophobic Ceramic Membranes
2.4. Characterization
2.5. Membrane Distillation Test Using Hydrophobic Ceramic Membranes
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Characterization of Fabricated Membranes
3.1.1. Morphology and Element Composition
3.1.2. Pore Size Distribution
3.1.3. Pure Water Flux
3.1.4. Wettability
3.1.5. Liquid Entry Pressure (LEP)
3.2. Vacuum Membrane Distillation Test
3.2.1. VMD Performance at Different Feed Flow Rates
3.2.2. VMD Performance at Different Feed Temperatures
3.2.3. The Stability of Hydrophobic Ceramic Membranes in the VMD Test
4. Conclusions
- (1)
- In the vacuum membrane distillation process, with the increase in the mean pore size, the water flux through the membranes rises, but the salt rejection reduces, which is consistent with the trade-off effect. When the mean pore size increases from 0.15 μm to 1.57 μm, the water flux rises from 5.15 L·m−2·h−1 to 19.72 L·m−2·h−1, but the initial salt rejection reduces from 99.95% to 99.87%.
- (2)
- The performance of the CFA-based ceramic membrane in the VMD process is better than that of the alumina ceramic membrane. The alumina ceramic membrane possesses a larger mean pore size (1.57 μm) than that of the CFA-based membrane (0.18 μm), but exhibits a lower water flux during the VMD process of only 6.62 L·m−2·h−1, while the water flux of the CFA-based membrane reaches 9.54 L·m−2·h−1.
- (3)
- Considering the water flux, the salt rejection and the stability, the CFA-based membrane with a mean pore size of 0.18 μm exhibits the best performance in the VMD process, with a water flux of 9.54 L·m−2·h−1 and a salt rejection of higher than 98.36%.
- (4)
- The stability test of the four hydrophobic membranes in the VMD process is carried out. The results show that the water flux fluctuates slightly and the salt rejection declines mildly after operating for 10 h, which indicates that the hydrophobicity of the fabricated hydrophobic membranes is stable in the VMD process.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Membranes | Support | Separation Layer | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Material | Internal/External Diameter (mm) | Length (m) | Number of Layers | Thickness (μm) | |
M1 | CFA | 8/12 ± 0.23 | 0.5 ± 2.88 × 10−3 | 0 | 0 |
M2 | CFA | 1 | 40 ± 4.96 | ||
M3 | CFA | 2 | 100 ± 7.93 | ||
M4 | Al2O3 | 0 | 0 |
Membranes | CA (°, Left) | CA (°, Right) | CA (°, Average) |
---|---|---|---|
M5 | 123.0 | 123.2 | 123.1 |
M6 | 127.9 | 127.9 | 127.9 |
M7 | 125.1 | 125.3 | 125.2 |
M8 | 125.5 | 125.4 | 125.5 |
Membranes | Maximum Pore Size (×10−6 m) | LEP (MPa) |
---|---|---|
M5 | 2.12 | 0.066 |
M6 | 2.41 | 0.065 |
M7 | 2.46 | 0.062 |
M8 | 2.44 | 0.061 |
Membrane | MD Type | Feed Solution | Pore Size (μm) | Water Flux (L·m−2·h−1) | Salt Rejection (%) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zirconia | VMD | NaCl (17,000 ppm) | 0.05 | 7.5 | >99 | [38] |
Titania | VMD | NaCl (17,000 ppm) | 0.005 | 6.08 | >99 | [38] |
Zeolite membrane | VMD | NaCl (35,000 ppm) | 0.07 | 5.2 | 99 | [26] |
Red clay ceramic | VMD | NaCl (10,000 ppm) | 0.035 | 6.39 | >80 | [39] |
Zirconia | AGMD | NaCl (0.1 mol·L−1) | 0.05 0.2 | ~6 | ~100 | [40] |
Alumina | VMD | NaCl (3.5 wt%) | 0.4 | 29.3 | 99.9 | [41] |
Alumina | VMD | NaCl (1 wt%) | 0.2 | 27.28 | 99.99 | [42] |
Alumina-silica | AGMD | Seawater | 0.1 | 3.3–7.5 | 98.5–99 | [43] |
Alumina | DCMD | NaCl (2 wt%) | 0.76 | 19.1 | >99.5 | [44] |
Alumina | SGMD | NaCl (4 wt%) | ~0.8 | 21 | >99 | [45] |
CFA | VMD | NaCl (10,000 ppm) | 0.18 | 9.54 | 98.36 | This work |
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Zhang, Z.; Yang, J.; Qi, R.; Huang, J.; Chen, H.; Zhang, H. Development of Hydrophobic Coal-Fly-Ash-Based Ceramic Membrane for Vacuum Membrane Distillation. Materials 2023, 16, 3153. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16083153
Zhang Z, Yang J, Qi R, Huang J, Chen H, Zhang H. Development of Hydrophobic Coal-Fly-Ash-Based Ceramic Membrane for Vacuum Membrane Distillation. Materials. 2023; 16(8):3153. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16083153
Chicago/Turabian StyleZhang, Zheng, Jihao Yang, Run Qi, Jiguang Huang, Haiping Chen, and Heng Zhang. 2023. "Development of Hydrophobic Coal-Fly-Ash-Based Ceramic Membrane for Vacuum Membrane Distillation" Materials 16, no. 8: 3153. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16083153