Breaking process of composite membranes used in desalination phenomenon

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a study of the breaking process of composite membranes used in the water desalination. Temperature, fluid pressure and accumulate retained fluid are remarkable parameters, which are likely to damage these membranes. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors adopt the dynamics of a fiber bundle model to investigate the breaking process of composite membranes with fibres distributed parallel to the direction of fluid flow. The model is based on the fiber bundle model where the fibres are randomly oriented. Findings The obtained results show that the increase in the parameters leads to an avalanche rupture of the membrane fibre and also increases its porosity. Lifetime membranes exhibit an exponential and power law vs. the parameters. Originality/value The accumulation of the retained fluid has a great effect on membranes than the temperature and fluid pressure.