Wettability of polypropylene capillary membranes during the membrane distillation process
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Marek Gryta
Abstract
Studies of membrane wettability in the membrane distillation process were performed with the application of hydrophobic capillary membranes made of polypropylene. Three kinds of Accurel PP membranes (Membrana GmbH, Germany) differing in the diameter of capillaries and pores as well as in the wall thickness were used. It was confirmed that membranes with lower wall thickness and larger pore size provide higher yields of the process. The studies demonstrated that the pores of used membranes located close to the external surface of capillaries are several times larger than those located inside the membrane wall. Based on air permeability measurements it was found that external surface of the membranes with such large pores was completely wetted by water after 50–80 h of membrane distillation. However, the pores located inside the wall with the diameter below 1 μm were not wetted and electrical conductivity of the obtained distillate was maintained at the level of 3–6 μS cm−1.
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© 2011 Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences
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Articles in the same Issue
- Bioactive papaverine derivatives bind G-quadruplexes selectively
- Ethanol production in a bioreactor with an integrated membrane distillation module
- Wettability of polypropylene capillary membranes during the membrane distillation process
- A reburning process using sewage sludge-derived syngas
- Chemical engineering approach to regenerative medicine
- Photosensitised oxidation of a water pollutant using sulphonated porphyrin
- Influence of selected biowaste materials pre-treatment on their anaerobic digestion
- Potassium sorbate release from poly(vinyl alcohol)-bacterial cellulose films
- Modelling of sorbic acid diffusion through bacterial cellulose-based antimicrobial films
- The use of stable isotopes ratios for authentication of fruit juices
- Reduction of ostazine dyes’ photodynamic effect by Fenton reaction
