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Special Issue "Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes"

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A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 June 2023 | Viewed by 3876

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Junjiang Bao

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Guest Editor

Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Interests: gas membrane separation; process simulation and optimization

Dr. Wu Xiao

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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Membrane technology plays an significant role in the separation of the liquid and gas mixtures. In recent years, gas membrane separation (hydrogen and VOCs recovery, helium enrichment, natural gas decarbonization and carbon capture), electrochemically driven membrane process (electrochemical separation), temperature difference driven membrane process (membrane distillation), high-pressure membrane processes (nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) and dialysis-driven membrane processes (forward osmosis) have played an important role in the fields of process intensification and energy efficiency. Among them, the membrane system is the ultimate embodiment of the industrialization of the membrane separation process due to its characteristics of easy coupling, small footprint, modularization and simple control. Aiming at the scientific laws behind the membrane separation process, the systematic research on the membrane separation process is of great significance for the development of membrane technology in the future.

To encourage the green development of various membrane-related separation processes, this Special Issue will emphasize the importance of novel membranes processes for potential industrial applications. Original contributions and reviews related to membranes processes and their applications, mainly for various separation processes such as microfiltration, nanafiltration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, pervaporation and gas separations are welcomed. Hybrid membrane and conventional separation processes (such as absorption, adsorption and cryogenic processes) are also welcomed.

Dr. Junjiang Bao
Dr. Wu Xiao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

membrane process
gas membrane separations
wastewater membrane treatment
membrane distillation process
membrane pervaporation process
membrane absorption process
membrane crystallization process
hybrid membrane process

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Modelling and Comparative Analysis of Different Methods of Liquid Membrane Separations

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Membranes 2023, 13(6), 554; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13060554 - 26 May 2023

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Abstract

This article is devoted to a brief review of the modelling of liquid membrane separation methods, such as emulsion, supported liquid membranes, film pertraction, and three-phase and multi-phase extraction. Mathematical models and comparative analyses of liquid membrane separations with different flow modes of contacting liquid phases are presented. A comparison of the processes of conventional and liquid membrane separations is carried out under the following assumptions: mass transfer is described by the traditional mass transfer equation; the equilibrium distribution coefficients of a component passing from one of the phases to another are constant. It is shown that, from the point of view of mass transfer driving forces, emulsion and film pertraction liquid membrane methods have advantages over the conventional conjugated extraction stripping method, when the mass-transfer efficiency of the extraction stage is significantly higher than the efficiency of the stripping stage. The comparison of the supported liquid membrane with conjugated extraction stripping showed that when mass-transfer rates on the extraction and stripping sides are different, the liquid membrane method is more efficient, while when they are equal to each other, both processes demonstrate the same results. The advantages and disadvantages of liquid membrane methods are discussed. The main disadvantages of liquid membrane methods—low throughput and complexity—can be overcome by using modified solvent extraction equipment to carry out liquid membrane separations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Desulfurization Performance of ZIF−8/PEG MMMs: Effect of ZIF−8 Particle Size

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Membranes 2023, 13(5), 515; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13050515 - 15 May 2023

Viewed by 328

Abstract

Constructing efficient and continuous transport pathways in membranes is a promising and challenging way to achieve the desired performance in the pervaporation process. The incorporation of various metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) into polymer membranes provided selective and fast transport channels and enhanced the separation performance of polymeric membranes. Particle size and surface properties are strongly related to the random distribution and possible agglomeration of MOFs particles, which may lead to poor connectivity between adjacent MOFs-based nanoparticles and result in low-efficiency molecular transport in the membrane. In this work, ZIF−8 particles with different particle sizes were physically filled into PEG to fabricate mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for desulfurization via pervaporation. The micro-structures and physi-/chemical properties of different ZIF−8 particles, along with their corresponding MMMs, were systematically characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, BET, etc. It was found that ZIF−8 with different particle sizes showed similar crystalline structures and surface areas, while larger ZIF−8 particles possessed more micro-pores and fewer meso-/macro-pores than did the smaller particles. ZIF−8 showed preferential adsorption for thiophene rather than n−heptane molecules, and the diffusion coefficient of thiophene was larger than that of thiophene in ZIF−8, based on molecular simulation. PEG MMMs with larger ZIF−8 particles showed a higher sulfur enrichment factor, but a lower permeation flux than that found with smaller particles. This might be ascribed to the fact that larger ZIF−8 particles provided more and longer selective transport channels in one single particle. Moreover, the number of ZIF−8−L particles in MMMs was smaller than the number of smaller ones with the same particle loading, which might weaken the connectivity between adjacent ZIF−8−L nanoparticles and result in low-efficiency molecular transport in the membrane. Moreover, the surface area available for mass transport was smaller for MMMs with ZIF−8−L particles due to the smaller specific surface area of the ZIF−8−L particles, which might also result in lower permeability in ZIF−8−L/PEG MMMs. The ZIF−8−L/PEG MMMs exhibited enhanced pervaporation performance, with a sulfur enrichment factor of 22.5 and a permeation flux of 183.2 g/(m⁻²·h⁻¹), increasing by 57% and 389% compared with the results for pure PEG membrane, respectively. The effects of ZIF−8 loading, feed temperature, and concentration on desulfurization performance were also studied. This work might provide some new insights into the effect of particle size on desulfurization performance and the transport mechanism in MMMs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

Constructing Gas Transmission Pathways in Two-Dimensional Composite Material ZIF-8@BNNS Mixed-Matrix Membranes to Enhance CO₂/N₂ Separation Performance

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Membranes 2023, 13(4), 444; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13040444 - 19 Apr 2023

Viewed by 597

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, due to their high aspect ratio and high specific surface area, which provide a more tortuous pathway for larger gas molecules, are frequently used in membrane separation. However, in mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs), the high aspect ratio and high specific surface area of 2D fillers can increase transport resistance, thereby reducing the permeability of gas molecules. In this work, we combine boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) with ZIF-8 nanoparticles to develop a novel material, ZIF-8@BNNS, to improve both CO₂ permeability and CO₂/N₂ selectivity. Growth of ZIF-8 nanoparticles on the BNNS surface is achieved using an in-situ growth method where the amino groups of BNNS are complexed with Zn²⁺, creating gas transmission pathways that accelerate CO₂ transmission. The 2D-BNNS material acts as a barrier in MMMs to improve CO₂/N₂ selectivity. The MMMs with a 20 wt.% ZIF-8@BNNS loading achieved a CO₂ permeability of 106.5 Barrer and CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 83.2, surpassing the Robeson upper bound (2008) and demonstrating that MOF layers can efficiently reduce mass transfer resistance and enhance gas separation performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

Innovative Membrane Technologies for the Treatment of Wastewater Polluted with Heavy Metals: Perspective of the Potential of Electrodialysis, Membrane Distillation, and Forward Osmosis from a Bibliometric Analysis

Benjamín Carmona

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Ricardo Abejón

Membranes 2023, 13(4), 385; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13040385 - 28 Mar 2023

Viewed by 835

Abstract

A bibliometric analysis, using the Scopus database as a source, was carried out in order to study the scientific documents published up to 2021 regarding the use of electrodialysis, membrane distillation, and forward osmosis for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. A total of 362 documents that fulfilled the search criteria were found, and the results from the corresponding analysis revealed that the number of documents greatly increased after the year 2010, although the first document was published in 1956. The exponential evolution of the scientific production related to these innovative membrane technologies confirmed an increasing interest from the scientific community. The most prolific country was Denmark, which contributed 19.3% of the published documents, followed by the two main current scientific superpowers: China and the USA (with 17.4% and 7.5% contributions, respectively). Environmental Science was the most common subject (55.0% of contributions), followed by Chemical Engineering (37.3% of contributions) and Chemistry (36.5% of contribution). The prevalence of electrodialysis over the other two technologies was clear in terms of relative frequency of the keywords. An analysis of the main hot topics identified the main advantages and drawbacks of each technology, and revealed that examples of their successful implementation beyond the lab scale are still scarce. Therefore, complete techno-economic evaluation of the treatment of wastewater polluted with heavy metals via these innovative membrane technologies must be encouraged. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

A Green Method for the Determination of Cadmium in Natural Waters Based on Multi-Fibre Supported Liquid Membranes

Juan J. Pinto

Victoria Mánuel

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Carlos Moreno

Membranes 2023, 13(3), 327; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13030327 - 12 Mar 2023

Viewed by 556

Abstract

Supported liquid membranes have been used to implement a hollow fibre liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) method for the preconcentration of Cd(II) in natural waters as a sample preparation step for its determination by high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFAAS). This system was designed to use four hollow fibres simultaneously with the same sample, thus improving the simplicity, speed and reproducibility of the results. The organic liquid membrane bis-(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinic acid (Cyanex^® 272) dissolved in dihexylether (DHE) was immobilised into the pores of the walls of polypropylene hollow fibres. After extraction, the cadmium-enriched acidic phases were recovered and analysed by triplicate. To optimise the extraction process, the effect of both physical and chemical variables was studied, and optimum results with an enrichment factor (EF) of 292 were obtained for a fibre length of 6 cm, 1.06 M Cyanex 272, 0.04 M HNO₃, stirring rate of 600 rpm and an extraction time of 4.26 h. For practical applications, extraction time was reduced to 2 h, keeping the EF as high as 130. Under these conditions, a detection limit of 0.13 ng L⁻¹ Cd(II) was obtained, with a reproducibility of 3.3 % and a linear range up to 3 µg L⁻¹ being achieved. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of cadmium in mineral, tap and seawater samples. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

Synchronous Design of Membrane Material and Process for Pre-Combustion CO₂ Capture: A Superstructure Method Integrating Membrane Type Selection

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Membranes 2023, 13(3), 318; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13030318 - 09 Mar 2023

Viewed by 594

Abstract

Membrane separation technology for CO₂ capture in pre-combustion has the advantages of easy operation, minimal land use and no pollution and is considered a reliable alternative to traditional technology. However, previous studies only focused on the H₂-selective membrane (HM) or CO₂-selective membrane (CM), paying little attention to the combination of different membranes. Therefore, it is hopeful to find the optimal process by considering the potential combination of H₂-selective and CO₂-selective membranes. For the CO₂ capture process in pre-combustion, this paper presents an optimization model based on the superstructure method to determine the best membrane process. In the superstructure model, both CO₂-selective and H₂-selective commercial membranes are considered. In addition, the changes in optimal membrane performance and capture cost are studied when the selectivity and permeability of membrane change synchronously based on the Robeson upper bound. The results show that when the CO₂ purity is 96% and the CO₂ recovery rate is 90%, the combination of different membrane types achieves better results. The optimal process is the two-stage membrane process with recycling, using the combination of CM and HM in all situations, which has obvious economic advantages compared with the Selexol process. Under the condition of 96% CO₂ purity and 90% CO₂ recovery, the CO₂ capture cost can be reduced to 11.75$/t CO₂ by optimizing the process structure, operating parameters, and performance of membranes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes)

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