Electrothermally Driven Membrane Distillation for Low-Energy Consumption and Wetting Mitigation

Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising alternative approach for desalination, especially for high-salinity brines. Its application has been limited by its high operational cost because of the energy consumption required for hydraulic circulation and heating the entire circulating feed. Localized heating of the feed by Joule heating diminishes energy consumption, but the potential charging on the electrothermal material surface causes water splitting and membrane degradation in high-salinity environments. Herein, a novel reverse Joule-heating air gap MD method was designed in which an electrothermal material was placed at the air gap, isolating itself from saline water. Even though the Joule-heating layer was at the air gap side, 90.56% of heat flowed into the saline water for heating the feed. The opposite temperature gradient in the membrane matrix as opposed to conventional MD-mitigated membrane wetting was caused by capillary condensation. This novel electrothermal-driven MD configuration is worthy to be introduced into applications.