Global Membrane Distillation Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global Membrane Distillation Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Membrane Distillation market finds that the global Membrane Distillation market reached a value of USD 55.99 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 636.94 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 49.97% during the forecast period.

Market Drivers

The membrane distillation process is almost carried out under normal pressure. The equipment is simple and easy to operate. It is also possible in areas with weak technical strength; in the membrane distillation process of non-volatile solute aqueous solutions, only water vapor can pass through the membrane. Therefore, the distillate is very pure, and it is expected to become an effective method for large-scale and low-cost preparation of ultrapure water; this process can process extremely high concentration aqueous solutions. If the solute is a substance that is easy to crystallize, the solution can be concentrated to a supersaturated state. The phenomenon of membrane distillation crystallization is the only membrane process that can directly separate the crystalline product from the solution; the membrane distillation module is easy to design into the form of latent heat recovery, and has the flexibility to form a large-scale production system with high-efficiency small membrane modules; In this process, there is no need to heat the solution to the boiling point. As long as the two sides of the membrane maintain a proper temperature difference, the process can be carried out. It is possible to use cheap energy such as solar energy, geothermal heat, hot springs, waste heat from factories, and warm industrial wastewater. The advantages of membrane distillation will help promote more demand and attention and drive the development of the industry.

Market Challenges

Slightly soluble inorganic salts crystallize and form a fouling layer during the membrane distillation process is one of the difficult problems that restrict the development of this technology, especially the non-alkaline slightly soluble salt represented by calcium sulfate. The study of its related mechanism is important for the promotion of membrane distillation technology. The application is of great significance. The occurrence of fouling will not only cause a decrease in flux but also cause irreversible damage to the separation membrane. Due to the relative lack of characterization techniques, the mechanism of the occurrence and evolution of fouling in the membrane distillation process has not yet been fully resolved. This poses a challenge for the development of membrane distillation.

Region Overview:

China had the highest growth rate of all regions.

Company Overview:

The top three companies are Aquatech, KMX Technologies LLC and Memsys with the revenue market share of 15.23%, 11.31% and 9.69% in 2020.

Aquatech International Corporation provides water purification solutions. The Company offers industrial process water, desalination, water recycle and reuse, and zero liquid discharge.

KMX Technologies is a global leader in membrane distillation, water treatment, and critical mineral recovery. The patented technology and processes were developed to address the world's toughest

industrial water treatment and mineral recovery challenges.

Segmentation Overview:

In DCMD, both sides of the membrane are charged with liquid- hot feed water on the evaporator side and cooled permeate on the permeate side. The condensation of the vapor passing through the membrane happens directly inside the liquid phase at the membrane boundary surface. Since the membrane is the only barrier blocking the mass transport, relatively high surface-related permeate flows can be achieved with DCMD.

AGMD is a configuration of membrane distillation (MD) in which an air layer is interposed between a porous hydrophobic membrane and the condensation surface. In the process, volatile compounds (including water) present in a warm feed evaporate at the liquid/vapor interface formed at the membrane surface. The vapor is transferred through the membrane pores and the gas gap and finally condenses on a cold surface inside the membrane module. The driving force of the mass transfer in AGMD is the difference in vapor pressure on both sides of the membrane.

Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) is among the most favorable MD configurations. In this process, the vapor is withdrawn by exerting a vacuum pressure to the permeate side of the membrane, which is kept as just lower than the saturation pressure of volatile components in the hot feed. Vacuum membrane distillation is a membrane-based separation process considered here to remove volatile organic compounds from aqueous streams. Microporous hydrophobic membranes are used to separate the aqueous stream from a gas phase kept under a vacuum. The evaporation of the liquid stream takes place on one side of the membrane, and mass transfer occurs through the vapor phase inside the membrane.

Sweeping-gas MD, also known as air stripping, uses a channel configuration with an empty gap on the permeate side. This configuration is the same as in AGMD. Condensation of the vapor takes place outside the MD module in an external condenser. As with AGMD, volatile substances with a low surface tension can be distilled with this process. The advantage of SWGMD over AGMD is the significant reduction of the barrier to mass transport through forced flow. Hereby higher surface-related product water mass flows can be achieved than with AGMD.

The typical vacuum multi-effect membrane distillation module consists of a steam raiser, evaporation–condensation stages, and a condenser. Each stage recovers the heat of condensation, providing a multiple-effect design. The distillate is produced in each evaporation–condensation stage and in the condenser.

Application Overview:

By application, the Desalination segment occupied the biggest share from 2017 to 2022.

Key Companies in the global Membrane Distillation market covered in Chapter 3:

Condorchem Envitech
Memsys
SolarSpring
KMX Technologies LLC
Aquatech
Aquastill
Xzero AB

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Membrane Distillation market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

Direct Contact MD (DCMD)
Air Gap MD (AGMD)
Vacuum MD (VMD)
Sweeping Gas MD (SWGMD)
Vacuum multi-effect membrane distillation (V-MEMD)

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Membrane Distillation market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

Desalination
Extraction from petroleum
Mining and industrial processes
Food industry

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)