New Frontiers in Membrane Separation

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2022) | Viewed by 1959

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Material Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Bejing, China
Interests: membrane separation; hollow fiber membrane; electrospinning; polymer synthesis; polymer nanocomposite; room temperature ionic liquid
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Compared with common separation technology, the inherent characteristics of membrane separation, such as highly selective separation, continuous operation, modular construction, no additional chemicals, easy scale-up, process simplicity, and energy preservation, can satisfy a very good treatment effect without the drawbacks of common technologies. Membranes find applications in disparate fields, including water treatment and pharmaceutical, food, medical, and biotech industries. The selection of the process type and membrane material depends on both the origin and the properties of the treated streams, and the ultimate goal of the separation. Improvements in the preparation procedure and the choice of membrane material, including the discovery of new materials, are the key factors for supporting the advances in membrane technology with a view of sustainability.

This Special Issue on “Frontiers in Membrane Separation” aims to curate novel advances in the development and application of membranes to address challenges in water treatment, energy, and gas separation. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Development of new materials for membrane use;
  • Pervaporation membranes for the desalination of brackish, seawater, and brines;
  • Membrane-based gas separation processes;
  • Applications of FO membranes in reverse osmosis and nanofiltration;
  • Anti-fouling properties of membranes for water treatment;
  • Application of organic nanofiltration membranes.

 

Prof. Dr. Pei Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • membranes
  • separation
  • membrane process
  • water treatment
  • gas separation

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 1889 KiB  
Article
Temperature Effects of MD on Municipal Wastewater Treatment in an Integrated Forward Osmosis and Membrane Distillation Process
by Khaled Almoalimi, Yong-Qiang Liu, Alexander Booth and Seongbong Heo
Processes 2022, 10(2), 355; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10020355 - 12 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2671
Abstract
An integrated forward osmosis (FO)-membrane distillation (MD) process is promising for the treatment and resource recovery from municipal wastewater. As higher temperature is applied in MD, it could affect the performance of both FO and MD units. This study aimed to investigate the [...] Read more.
An integrated forward osmosis (FO)-membrane distillation (MD) process is promising for the treatment and resource recovery from municipal wastewater. As higher temperature is applied in MD, it could affect the performance of both FO and MD units. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the type of draw solution (DS) and feed solution (FS) such as ammonium solution or municipal wastewater containing ammonium at higher temperatures on membrane treatment performance. It is found that higher FS and DS temperatures resulted in a higher water flux and a higher RSF with either NaCl or glucose as DS due to the increased diffusivity and reduced viscosity of DS. However, the water flux increased by 23–35% at elevated temperatures with glucose as DS, higher than that with NaCl as DS (8–19%), while the reverse solute flux (RSF) increase rate with NaCl as DS was two times higher than that with glucose as DS. In addition, the use of NaCl as DS at higher temperatures such as 50 and FS at 42 °C resulted in increased forward ammonium permeation from the FS to the DS, whereas ammonium was completely rejected with glucose as DS at all operating temperatures. Reducing pH or lowering the temperature of DS could improve ammonium rejection and minimize ammonia escape to the recovered water, but extra cost or reduced MD performance could be led to. Therefore, the results suggest that in an integrated FO-MD process with DS at higher temperatures such as 50 °C, glucose is better than NaCl as DS. Furthermore, a simplified heat balance estimation suggests that internal heat recovery in the FO-MD system is very necessary for treating municipal wastewater treatment. This study sheds light on the selection of DS in an integrated FO-MD process with elevated temperature of both FS and DS for the treatment of wastewater containing ammonium. In addition, this study highlights the necessity of internal heat recovery in the integrated FO-MD system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Membrane Separation)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop