Concentration of sucrose solutions via vacuum membrane distillation

Abstract

The potential use of vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process for the concentration of sucrose solution was examined. The effect of several parameters, including feed temperature, flow rate, and initial sucrose concentration on the flux quality and quantity was studied. VMD process was found effective in concentrating aqueous sucrose solutions as the permeate was absolutely pure water. The feed temperature significantly affected the flux. The increase in feed flow rate increased the permeate flux and this increase was more pronounced in the laminar than in the turbulent region. The increase in the initial sucrose concentration resulted in a slight decrease in the flux without affecting the quality of the permeate. A mathematical model describing the variation of sucrose concentration with time was developed and validated with the experimental results. Concentration and temperature polarization effects were also considered in this work.