SUSTAINABLE MEMBRANE DISTILLATION FOR INDUSTRIAL WATER REUSE AND DECENTRALISED DESALINATION APPROACHING ZERO WASTE

Project Information

MEloDIZER

Grant agreement ID: 101091915

DOI

10.3030/101091915

EC signature date 18 November 2022

Start date 1 December 2022

End date 30 November 2026

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 8 257 877,61

EU contribution

€ 7 007 470,74

Coordinated by

POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MEloDIZER (SUSTAINABLE MEMBRANE DISTILLATION FOR INDUSTRIAL WATER REUSE AND DECENTRALISED DESALINATION APPROACHING ZERO WASTE)

Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

MEloDIZER's overarching goal is to provide the needed step to transform membrane distillation (MD) and especially its core components, namely, membranes and membrane modules, into products for the benefit of industry and society.
Two strategic objectives within the EU and worldwide addressed in the MEloDIZER project are achieving sustainable water management and assuring reliable and unhindered access to critical raw materials. MD is a key technology to achieve these goals. MD will be successful when applied to manage suitable waste streams, each at the correct scale and combined with the appropriate mix of renewable energy sources. MEloDIZER will thus deliver improved membranes and modules and will demonstrate their rational use for implementations that have been identified by this Consortium as having strategic and high winning potential.

Key challenges will be overcome, as outlined below:
(1) Creation of next-generation membranes and modules. Expected results are high-performance and robust membranes, obtained with green materials and adopting sustainable approaches, packed within energy-efficient modules made by biodegradable polymers that can be easily disassembled and recycled.
(2) Rationally integrate the core innovative membrane and module components with energy and control systems that maximise their performance and enable the smart utilisation of two renewable energy sources: (i) waste heat and (ii) solar power.
(3) Demonstrate the performance of the next-gen membrane components in systems aimed at the reduction of industrial waste streams, the reuse of water, the extraction of resources, and for the production of drinking water by decentralised and diffuse human-scale MD units.
(4) Demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits associated with the implementation of the innovative membrane components and the resulting improved MD technology, also providing sustainable end-of-life management of membranes components and systems.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

MD MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS
Initial activities set out to identify and examine the potential markets for MD, and to provide qualitative insights to the consortium on the current technology landscape. The main drivers identified for the adoption of MD technologies are the following:
• Primarily, economic drivers behind brine-mining and resource recovery. MD also has the ability to concentrate brine to almost its saturation point.
• Regulators worldwide are pushing for increased water reuse, improved resource recovery, reduced brine discharge, and stricter discharge quality standards.
• Environmentally and in line with the goals of many global corporate water stewardship programmes, the use of MD to improve process water efficiency can significantly reduce freshwater demand.
• Lithium extraction and acid recovery are the two markets that showed the most promising potential for wastewater mining applications of MD.
Barriers include strong competition, limited commercial track record, and concerns about scalability and energy demand. To overcome these obstacles, the project advanced membrane materials, multi-scale optimisation tools, and high-performance MD demonstrators powered by renewable energy.
To address these technical issues, innovation activities have been performed to develop novel sustainable membranes, to optimize the MD system via multi-scale models, and to integrate the membrane and module components in high-performance MD demonstrators supplied with renewable energy.

SUSTAINABLE MEMBRANES
The core technical research of the first reporting period focused on producing membranes with high hydrophobicity, chemical resistance, and long life, for use in membrane distillation. Research focused on hydrophobic, chemically resistant, long-life membranes manufactured with non-toxic solvents. PVDF membranes were modified to enhance performance and produced as flat-sheet and hollow-fibre formats suitable for sustainable large-scale production. Testing with synthetic and real wastewaters identified strengths and limitations, guiding improvements in membrane formulation, module fabrication, and system design.

MODULE AND SYSTEM MODELING AND OPTIMISATON
A series of modeling tools were developed and adopted to understand and optimize membrane, module, and system performance at different scales. The project established a complete scientific and engineering basis to optimise membrane-distillation technologies across multiple prototype configurations. Simulations and experiments identified optimal layouts, flow regimes, spacer designs, and solar-absorption strategies. Hollow-fibre, air-gap, and vacuum configurations were optimised, and energy-integration studies defined efficient heat-pump coupling, heat-recovery layouts, and solar-driven operating windows. A unified digital-control framework enabled autonomous operation, remote monitoring, and model-based optimisation across all prototypes.

MODULE AND SYSTEM DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Designs of the four prototypes were finalised with the aim of customizing the systems for each of the four specific applications. In particular, different configurations were designed and installed. The first is a hollow-fibre DCMD system using waste heat at Athenian Brewery. The second is a solar-powered flat-sheet VMD system with integrated PV-heat-pump operation for industrial wastewater in Girona. The third is a solar-assisted AGMD desalination pilot combining bulk and direct solar heating to produce 50–100 L/day. The fourth is a compact AGMD emergency-water kit, fully solar-driven, producing 1–10 L/day with simple, robust operation.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

• New sustainable membrane fabrication routes using non-toxic solvents improve safety and environmental performance in membrane and polymer manufacturing. Further material optimisation, durability testing, and waste- and energy-reduction during fabrication are still required before industrial uptake.
• Sustainable flat-sheet and hollow-fibre membranes were successfully produced, with potential use across water treatment, food, energy, and pharmaceutical sectors. Upscaling, large-scale demonstration, and commercialisation remain key next steps.
• Predictive, validated models for membrane, module, and system optimisation now enable rational MD design. They relate membrane structure and system geometry to flux and efficiency, and introduce performance-enhancing mechanisms such as solar-assisted heating and Marangoni-driven salt rejection. Ongoing analyses will refine general design guidelines.
• Identification of suitable and unsuitable wastewater streams clarified where MD offers real technical and economic advantages, improving targeting of future applications.
• High-efficiency system integration with renewable energy—including waste heat, solar thermal, PV, and heat pumps—demonstrated energy recovery above unity and fully renewable operation. Long-term, large-scale validation is still needed.
• Market-ready demonstrators for industry and off-grid use showed MD’s versatility, reduced energy demand, and safe fossil-free operation. Scale-up will require industrial partnerships, financing strategies, regulatory approval for potable use, and strengthened IPR frameworks.