Effect of membrane selectivity and partial pressure on vapor removal and sensible heat recovery in membrane processes

Membrane vapor separation processes are a promising technology for both removing water vapor and recovering the sensible heat of exhaust gas from the drying process. In this study, to investigate how the impact of membrane selectivity affects the efficiency of water vapor removal and sensible heat recovery, the performances were evaluated using 3 membrane modules. From the results, by increasing the membrane selectivity, the permeate vapor and the removal efficiency decreased. The air recirculation ratio for recovering sensible heat was not found to be entirely dependent on the membrane selectivity, in spite of the trade-off between permeability and selectivity. In addition, by increasing the partial pressure, the vapor removed increased, though the change of air recirculation was negligible regardless of membrane selectivity.