Perspectives of practical applications of thermodialysis

Separation processes based on membrane selectivity with respect to various permeants are becoming increasingly important for science and industry. The selectivity of heat flux mediated membrane transport could make, in some cases, such processes competitive with those employing mechanical pressure as driving force, notwithstanding the higher cost of thermal relative to mechanical force. Recent results described here, obtained with commercial porous teflon membranes possessing good thermal, mechanical and chemical resistence, prove the possibility of obtaining high fluxes and elevated transmembrane pressures by the process of thermodialysis. The reproducibility of results is found to be fair, ensuring constant functioning in continuous operation for prolonged working periods. Attention is focused here on water transport, solute-solvent separations will be dealt with in subsequent papers. © 1983.