1. Membrane distillation Technology & Applications
Hein Weijdema, CTO
May 2014

2. Membrane Distillation
Membrane Distillation is a breakthrough technology with unique characteristics
It can treat almost any water source
It runs on low-grade heat
It produces pure distillate
It has high recovery ratios

3. Technology
Products
Applications
Aquaver

4. A novel technology: membrane + thermal separation

5. A novel technology: membrane + thermal separation
Vacuum:
lower boiling point = lower temp
Condensation:
re-use of heat
2nd Barrier:
Hydrophobic membrane
Large Surface:
thin films = small volume

6. A novel technology: membrane + thermal separation
vacuum
Feed water
Principle:
Separation by differences in vapor pressure using hydrophobic membranes (membrane distillation)
Characteristics
Thermal separation process: non sensitive to concentration or particle size
Operating at low pressure (vacuum): the process can be driven by low temperature heat
Enlarge surface areas (A): thin water films
Hydrophobic membranes (B): guarantee 100% separation
Re-use of the heat (C): multi-stage process
Plastic-made (PP & PTFE): no corrosion, dry membranes
No leakages: friction welding manufacturing

7. A novel technology: membrane + thermal separation
 Repetition of individual units into multi-stage systems (below)
Concentrate
Low temp heat
Feed
Distillate
Feed thermally separated into distillate and concentrate
System powered by low grade heat (vacuum)
Multi-stage process: re-use of heat

8. Adjustable Recovery Ratio
Schematic of the process
Heat
Distillate
Feed
Adjustable Recovery Ratio
Concentrate
Cooling

9. Technology
Products
Applications
Aquaver

10. Aquaver products portfolio
WTS-40 which produces 60l/h and WTS-1000 which produces 1m3/h. Both are commercially available and CE certified.
certified product

11. Aquaver MDS-1000 Processing modules Feed Cooling Input Distillate
output +
Brine output
WTS-40 which produces 60l/h and WTS-1000 which produces 1m3/h. Both are commercially available and CE certified.
Heating

12. Detail of control unit
WTS-40 which produces 60l/h and WTS-1000 which produces 1m3/h. Both are commercially available and CE certified.

13. Technology
Products
Applications
Aquaver

14. Sustainable desalination
Waste
Heat
Diesel Generator
Seawater
For small communities (up to 5000 people)
With existing or new diesel generator installations
For permanent or emergency situations

15. Brine treatment
Technology insensitive to concentration levels or particle size
I will show you 2 examples of the characteristics of the systems. The first one is we tested the quality of the distillate for several concentrations of seawater salinity (instant ocean). You can see that we do not go up to 35gr/l, which is close to the limit of RO, but 5 times higher, up to 175gr/l. In all the range, the conductivity is constant and below 3mg/l (<5uS/cm).
Recovery ratio (RR): close to saturation point
Distillate quality: 1µS/cm

16. Landfill leachate
Parameter
Units
Feed
Distillate
Brine pH 4
7.0
2.7
Conductivity
µS/cm
8900
<10
92000
COD
ppm
380
<1
4320
BOD
100
1135
HCO3
5000
120
SO4
5.9
<0.1 67 P
3.4 40
NH4
690
7830
N (total)
700
7950 Na
920
<0.05
10449 Ca 90
<0.01
1024 Fe 9
<0.02
105 Al
0.3 3 Mg 81 K
400
4540 B 11
125 Ba Sr
0.7 7 Zn
0.05 1
SiO2 reactive 15
170
SiO2 total 19
215
Cl-
1500
17040
Cl2 (free) F- 35
TSS 37
420
TOC
443
5032
Landfill leachate: landfill waste + water. It contains: organic and inorganic chemicals, heavy metals, pathogens, etc.
Recovery ratio (RR): 90%
Distillate quality: <10µS/cm

17. Nanoparticles wastewater
Industrial and difficult-to-treat waters
Wastewater industry
Feed input:
Salinity: 55 gr/l
Feed contains Ca, K, Na, SiO2, HCO3, SO4, etc.
Results:
Recovery ratio (RR) = up to 80% (approaching crystallization limit)
Pure distillate production
Nanoparticles wastewater
Feed input:
Concentration SiO2: 316 mg/l
Average particle size: 45.5nm
Results:
Recovery ratio (RR) = 96%
Distillate: <2mg/l SiO2 (below detection limit)
Concentrate SiO2: 8800 mg/l

18. Industry: Waste to Value
Reduction
Waste heat
Distillate
Concentrate
Waste water
H2O
Reduction

19. Industry Case 1: demiwater from waste heat
Rainwater
discharge
Before:
Distillate production
With Aquaver systems:
Heat
discharge
demiwater

20. Industry Case 2: Concentration of waste or product
Discharge
Before:
Distillate production
Discharge
With Aquaver systems:
Heat
discharge

21. Industry Case 3: Material recovery
Discharge
Before:
Distillate production
Material recovery
With Aquaver systems:
Heat
discharge

22. Industry Case 4: Combining technologies
Before:
With Aquaver systems:
Heat
discharge
Distillate production
Electricity
Electricity
Discharge
Discharge

23. Case study I: Sustainable desalination
Challenge: Sustainable seawater desalination
Solution: Aquaver MDS 500 powered by waste heat from diesel generator
Basic information
Location
Gulhi, Maldives
When
February 2014
Customer
Aquiva Foundation
Product
MDS 500
Technical characteristics
Clean water output
m3/day 12
Feed water
seawater
Distillate water quality
µS/cm
<50 
Electrical energy consumption
kWh/m3
2.2
Thermal energy consumption 90
Uptime (for a 1 month period) %
>97% 
Gulhi, Maldives
MDS 500 at Gulhi desalination plant

24. Case study II: Landfill leachate
Basic information
Location
Houthalen-Helchteren, Belgium
When
April 2014
Customer
Group Machiels
Product
MDS 1000
Technical characteristics
Feed water
Landfill leachate
Feed water quality
mS/cm
9-11 
Clean water output
m3/day 24
Distillate water quality
µS/cm
<30 
Recovery ratio % 90
Electrical energy consumption
kWh/m3 2
Thermal energy consumption
180
Uptime (for a 1 month period)
>95% 
Challenge:
Reduce landfill leachate water footprint in a robust and economical way
Solution:
Aquaver MDS 1000 driven by low-grade heat
MDS 1000 at Machiels water treatment plant

25. Technology
Products
Applications
Aquaver

26. About Aquaver
Aquaver is based in the Netherlands. Part of the Ecover Group, a global organization with a strong sustainability track record.
Developed world’s first commercial systems based on membrane distillation.
Products with wide range of applications.
Marketing, sales and maintenance coordinated with our local partners.

27. Oosteinde 114, 2271 EJ Voorburg, The Netherlands
Tel.:
Website: