Effect of temperature on ion transport in nanofiltration membranes: Diffusion, convection and electromigration

Abstract

Nanofiltration performance as a function of feed temperature is relevant to several industrial settings including pretreatment for scale control in thermal desalination. Understanding of solute transport as a function of temperature is critical for effective membrane and system design. In this study, nanofiltration is modeled at 22, 40 and 50 °C using the Donnan Steric Pore Model with dielectric exclusion (DSPM-DE). This modeling includes the temperature dependence of the three modes of solute transport, namely the convective, electromigrative, and diffusive modes, and the three mechanisms of solute exclusion, namely Donnan, steric, and dielectric exclusion. The effect of temperature is captured through the variation of membrane parameters and solvent and ionic mobilities with temperature. We compare the most abundant ionic compound in natural water, sodium-chloride with magnesium-chloride to portray how the salt passage and rejection change for a 1:1 salt compared to a 2:1 salt, and we analyze Arabian Gulf seawater to understand how rejection of scale-forming ions, such as Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺, is affected by feed temperature. In all cases, solute transport increases with temperature, attributed predominantly to the cumulative effect of membrane parameters and only to a small extent (up to 5%) to the solvent viscosity and ion diffusivity together.