Membrane Distillation Employed for Separation of Water Isotopic Compounds

Abstract An attempt to apply membrane distillation (MD) for the enrichment of water isotopic compounds was made. The process was conducted as a direct-contact MD with flat-sheet microporous, hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes in the temperature range 323–353K. The distillate condensation was carried out directly into a stream of cooling water. The comparison between calculated Rayleigh distillation curves and the results of permeation experiments demonstrated the MD process to be more efficient than simple distillation for enrichment of the heavy isotopes in water.