Review of membrane distillation for desalination applications: Advanced modeling, specific energy consumption, and water production cost
Yassine Soumbati, Ilyasse Bouatou, Almotasembellah Abushaban, Youssef Belmabkhout, Mohamed Chaker Necibi
Abstract
Over the past decade, membrane distillation (MD) has attracted significant attention as a promising desalination technology that uses low-grade heat from sustainable sources, making it suitable for remote areas. However, its widespread adoption has been hindered by the high energy demand and production costs. This review critically examines recent advances in MD modeling through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as well as the energy consumption (EC) and water production cost (WPC) of MD systems at various scales. CFD modeling enables the simulation of critical factors such as temperature distribution , concentration polarization , and fouling, providing deeper insights into the energy efficiency of MD processes . Reported EC values range between 49 and 801 kWh/m 3 depending on salinity, while the WPC ranges between $7 to $56.5/m 3 for system-scale evaluations and from $0.31 to $85/m 3 for upscaled cases. Advances in heat and water recovery methods, combined with the integration of renewable energy sources , have significantly reduced the EC and WPC compared with previous decades. Continued innovation in these areas is expected to further enhance the energy efficiency and water production performance of MDs, making them viable solutions for sustainable desalination .