Water recovery from humidified waste gas streams: Quality control using membrane condenser technology

In this work “membrane condenser” is utilized for the selective recovery of evaporated waste water from industrial gases and for the control of the composition of the recovered liquid water. A simulation study of the process has been developed for predicting the membrane-based process performance. The achieved results indicate that feed flow rate (QFeed), interfacial membrane area (AMembrane), the ratio QFeed/AMembrane, the temperature difference (ΔT) between the fed flue gas Tfeed and the membrane module are the parameters controlling the process. In particular, the amount of recovered water rises at increasing ΔT and QFeed/AMembrane, whereas its quality is made worse at increasing ΔT and QFeed. The data obtained have been also supported by an experimental study of the process, confirming the validity of the simulation study and its suitability for a screening of the operative conditions to be chosen in a membrane condenser.