The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation
Name
Air Recharging MD for Fouling Prevention AWWA ACE15 Conference Paper v14 fixed.pdf
Size
971.84 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Warsinger, David Elan Martin
Gonzalez, Jocelyn V.
Van Belleghem, Sarah M.
Servi, Amelia T
Swaminathan, Jaichander
Chung, Hyung Won
Lienhard, John H.
Date Issued
2015
Journal
2015 Annual Conference and Exposition: Uniting the World of Water
Publisher
American Water Works Association (AWWA)
Citation
Warsinger, David E. M. et al. "The Combined Effect of Air Layers and Membrane Superhydrophobicity on Biofouling in Membrane Distillation." 2015 Annual Conference and Exposition: Uniting the World of Water, June 8-10 2015, Anaheim, California, American Water Works Association (AWWA), 2015 © 2015 American Water Works Association (AWWA)
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Previous studies of membrane distillation (MD) have shown that superhydrophobic membranes experience dramatically less inorganic and particulate fouling. However, little explanation for this improved performance has been given in the literature. Furthermore, studies comparing membrane superhydrophobicity and biofouling are lacking, though superhydrophobic surfaces are known to be more vulnerable to biofouling than other types. In non-membrane surfaces, visible air layers on superhydrophobic surfaces have been correlated with
significant decreases in biofouling. Therefore, it was proposed here to use superhydrophobic MD membranes with periodic introduction of air to maintain an air layer on the membrane surface. Superhydrophobic membranes were created with initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) of a fluorinated compound, perfluorodecyl acrylate (PFDA). The substrate membrane was PVDF. To test MD fouling, an MD membrane was placed on top of a fouling solution, with a heater and stirrer to caus
e evaporation of water through the membrane. Results were analyzed with foulant mass measurements. Alginate gel fouling was examined, as this compound is a common proxy for biological fouling in ocean w
ater. The introduction of air layers was found to dramatically decrease foulant adhesion to the membrane, by 95-97%. Membrane superhydrophobicity made a much smaller impact in reducing fouling.
Keywords
membrane distillation, superhydrophobic surfaces, alginate, air layers, anti-fouling
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
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DOI of Published Version
https://www.awwa.org/conferences-education/conferences/ace15-highlights.aspx
