Membrane Distillation: Membranes, Hybrid Systems, and Pilot Studies

This book aims to elaborate the basics and recent advances of membrane distillation (MD) as the same shows promise for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. Starting with fundamentals of MD processes, including the heat and mass transfer analysis, energy evaluation and mathematical modelling, text includes engineering and molecular design of MD membranes. Various types of hybrid systems, including freeze desalination (FD)-MD, MD-crystallization (MDC), pressure retarded osmosis (PRO)-MD and forward osmosis (FO)-MD, will be discussed in this book. Further, it summarizes the future of MD from both industrial and academic perspectives along with energy sources and economic analysis.

Dr Kang-Jia Lu is a research fellow at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS). Her PhD and Bachelor (1st honor) were obtained from the same department. Her research interests include membrane fabrication, surface modification, system integration and simulation of various membrane applications, especially membrane distillation (MD). She was the leader of an MD project of S$2,600,880. She has published 11 research articles in Journal of Membrane Science, Environmental Science & Technology and other leading research journals. She also won the Faculty of Engineering 28th Innovation & Research Award of NUS in 2014 and Aseanian Membrane Society 11 New Member Special Award in 2018.

Prof. Tai-Shung Chung is a Provost’s Chair Professor at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS). His research focuses on polymeric membranes. After working in US industries for 15 years, he joined NUS in 1995. In 2005-2008, he worked as a Senior Consultant for Hyflux Inc., led and built its membrane research team. He became a Fellow in the Academy of Engineering Singapore in 2012 and received IChemE (Institute of Chemical Engineers, UK) Underwood Medal for exceptional research in separations and Singapore President’s Technology Award in 2015. He was a highly cited researcher in Chemical Engineering & Materials Science and Engineering by the Elsevier and Shanghai Global Ranking in 2016 and received Distinction Award in Water Reuse and Conservation from International Desalination Association (IDA) in 2016. He is also a highly cited researcher in the list of Clarivate Analytics in 2018.