(376t) Novel High-Performance Hollow Fiber Membrane Modules for Water Desalination through Direct Contact Membrane Distillation

High-performance (high flux and energy efficient) hollow fiber membrane modules were fabricated for water desalination by the membrane distillation (MD) process. We introduce a new approach to pack hollow fiber membranes into the modules using 3D spacers designed and fabricated through mathematical modeling and an additive manufacturing method, respectively. Functional Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated through a dry-jet wet-spinning method. The membranes were characterized in the fabricated modules and direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process. We observed a close agreement between the experimental and simulation results. The experimental results showed that the flux decreases when the interspacing parameter--the ratio of fiber radius to center-to-center distance of fibers--approaches the value of 0.5. Moreover, the permeate flux increased with the feed temperature and flow rate. The unique design of the module reduces temperature polarization, improves flow pattern, and enhances the module’s thermal efficiency, leading to a high permeate flux. The results confirmed that the high-performance hollow fiber membrane modules can be fabricated by properly designing the modules, arranging hollow fiber membranes, and adjusting the interspacing distance between the fibers.