Membrane distillation is reported for the first time in the literature being used to desalinate geothermal brackish groundwater for industrial greenhouse applications. Asymmetric hollow fiber membranes were fabricated and characterized for their direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) application to provide irrigation water at Masson Greenhouse, New Mexico. Membranes exhibited an asymmetric configuration with an external sponge layer and an internal macrovoid layer. The intention was to prevent pore wetting from the hot saline fluid with the sponge layer, while using the macrovoid layer to increase the water flux and thermal efficiency of the membrane. A water flux of 55 liters/m2-h (LMH) with a salt rejection greater than 99.99% was observed for the fabricated polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes at a water vapor pressure gradient of 3.2 MPa/cm (shell-side inlet temperature of 80°C). Further investigation, however, revealed that pore wetting existed in the macrovoid layer at the onset of the DCMD operation even though the measured liquid entry pressure (LEP) was substantially greater than the transmembrane pressure observed in the DCMD module during operations. This result suggests that LEP is not an effective indicator for pore wetting, which can adversely impact the water flux. Short-term performance of the hollow fiber membranes was evaluated over 80 h of continuous operation. Minimal reduction of the water flux and stable salt rejection over 99.99% were observed over the period.
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