Research activities on the application of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) for processing at low temperature (up to 50 °C) solutions containing urea were presented and discussed. Feeds were urine (also in mixture) and human plasma ultrafiltrate. Moreover, as a case study, the performance of membrane modules of different sizes and features was investigated for reaching the productivities needed in the treatment of the human plasma ultrafiltrate. In particular, two modules were equipped with the same type of capillaries, but differed in terms of membrane area, while the third module contained a different type of membranes and presented a membrane area in between those of the two previous modules. The three modules were compared, at a parity of operating temperatures and streams velocity, in terms of transmembrane flux, permeate production and size, underlining the directions to follow for a real implementation of the technique.
Keywords: direct contact membrane distillation; low temperature; urea.