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Membranes
Special Issues
Membrane Distillation: Module Design and Application Performance
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Membrane Distillation: Module Design and Application Performance

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications for Water Treatment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 1064

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Lebea N. Nthunya

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Engineering, Science and Technology, University of South Africa, Florida Science Campus, Roodepoort 1709, South Africa
Interests: process modelling and automation; environmental analysis of metals; development and piloting of membrane crystallization for resource recovery from wastewater
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus on the latest developments in membrane distillation and crystallization technologies, emphasizing innovative module designs, performance optimization, and practical applications in water treatment, desalination, and resource recovery. We invite researchers to contribute original research articles, reviews, and case studies that explore advancements in these areas, particularly their efficiency, sustainability, and scalability.

Topics of Interest:

  • Advanced configurations and materials for membrane distillation and crystallization modules.
  • Hybrid approaches combining membrane processes with other treatment technologies.
  • Strategies for improving membrane flux, selectivity, and stability.
  • Effect of operating conditions (temperature, pressure, feed composition) on performance.
  • Understanding the transport phenomena in membrane distillation and crystallization systems.
  • Case studies highlighting the application of membrane distillation in desalination processes.
  • Performance evaluations of membrane crystallization for water treatment and wastewater recovery.
  • Innovations in utilizing membrane technologies for resource recovery from brines and wastewater (e.g., recovery of valuable minerals, nutrients).

Circular economy approaches integrating membrane processes for sustainable water management

Dr. Lebea N. Nthunya
Guest Editor

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 distillation crystallization
  • resource recovery
  • circular economy
  • zero liquid discharge
  • desalination
  • wastewater treatment

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 5293 KiB  
Article
Membrane Distillation for Water Desalination: Assessing the Influence of Operating Conditions on the Performance of Serial and Parallel Connection Configurations
by Lebea N. Nthunya and Bhekie B. Mamba
Membranes 2025, 15(8), 235; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15080235 - 4 Aug 2025
Viewed by 738
Abstract
Though the pursuit of sustainable desalination processes with high water recovery has intensified the research interest in membrane distillation (MD), the influence of module connection configuration on performance stability remains poorly explored. The current study provided a comprehensive multiparameter assessment of hollow fibre [...] Read more.
Though the pursuit of sustainable desalination processes with high water recovery has intensified the research interest in membrane distillation (MD), the influence of module connection configuration on performance stability remains poorly explored. The current study provided a comprehensive multiparameter assessment of hollow fibre membrane modules connected in parallel and series in direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) for the first time. The configurations were evaluated under varying process parameters such as temperature (50–70 °C), flow rates (22.1–32.3 mL·s−1), magnesium concentration as scalant (1.0–4.0 g·L−1), and flow direction (co-current and counter-current), assessing their influence on temperature gradients (∆T), flux and pH stability, salt rejection, and crystallisation. Interestingly, the parallel module configuration maintained high operational stability with uniform flux and temperature differences (∆T) even at high recovery factors (>75%). On one hand, the serial configuration experienced fluctuating ∆T caused by thermal and concentration polarisation, causing an early crystallisation (abrupt drop in feed conductivity). Intensified polarisation effects with accelerated crystallisation increased the membrane risk of wetting, particularly at high recovery factors. Despite these changes, the salt rejection remained relatively high (99.9%) for both configurations across all tested conditions. The findings revealed that acidification trends caused by MgSO4 were configuration-dependent, where the parallel setup-controlled rate of pH collapse. This study presented a novel framework connecting membrane module architecture to mass and heat transfer phenomena, providing a transformative DCMD module configuration design in water desalination. These findings not only provide the critical knowledge gaps in DCMD module configurations but also inform optimisation of MD water desalination to achieve high recovery and stable operation conditions under realistic brine composition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Distillation: Module Design and Application Performance)
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