Efficient Estimation of Permeate Flux of Asymmetric Ceramic Membranes for Vacuum Membrane Distillation.

Ceramic membranes have the advantages of high mechanical strength and thermal stability and are promising candidates for membrane distillation. Ceramic membranes are generally designed to have a multilayer structure with different pore sizes to create a high liquid entry pressure and obtain a high permeability. However, these structural characteristics pose significant difficulties in predicting permeate flux in a ceramic membrane contactor for vacuum membrane distillation (VMD).

Permeability and Stability of Hydrophobic Tubular Ceramic Membrane Contactor for CO Desorption from MEA Solution.

Ceramic membrane contactors hold great promise for CO desorption due to their high mass transfer area as well as the favorable characteristics of ceramic materials to resist harsh operating conditions. In this work, a hydrophobic tubular asymmetric alpha-alumina (α-AlO) membrane was prepared by grafting a hexadecyltrimethoxysilane ethanol solution. The hydrophobicity and permeability of the membrane were evaluated in terms of water contact angle and nitrogen (N) flux.