The long-term studies of osmotic membrane distillation

The results of osmotic membrane distillation carried out for 2.5 years were presented in this work. The influence of the process conditions, such as temperature and brine concentration on the permeate flux, was investigated. The saturated NaCl solutions and distilled water were used as a stripping solution and feed, respectively. A continuous regeneration of stripping solution was conducted using a method of natural evaporation from the surface of Białecki rings to the air surrounding the installation. The possibilities of application of Accurel PP S6/2 hydrophobic polypropylene membranes were tested. It was studied whether a saturation stripping solution does not cause scaling and wettability of membranes. It was found that most of the pores in the used membranes were non-wetted, and the salt retention over 99% was maintained during a study period. However, the obtained permeate flux was decreased by 10–20%. The SEM examinations revealed that it was caused by amorphous deposit, which was formed on the membrane surface on the brine side. The SEM–EDS analysis demonstrated that the deposit composition mainly included Si and O. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11696-017-0261-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.