Pervaporation, Vapour Permeation and Membrane Distillation : Principles and Applications

Vapour permeation and membrane distillation are two emerging membrane technologies for the production of vapour as permeate, which, in addition to well-established pervaporation technology, are of increasing interest to academia and industry. As efficient separation and concentration processes, they have high potential for use in the energy, water, chemical, food and pharmaceutical sectors. Part One begins by covering the fundamentals, preparation and characterization of pervaporation, before going on to outline the associated systems and applications. State of the art uses, future trends and next generation pervaporation are then discussed. Part Two then explores the preparation, characterization, systems and applications of membranes for vapour permeation, followed by modelling and the new generation of vapour permeation membranes. Finally, Part Three outlines the fundamentals of membrane distillation and its applications in integrated systems, before the book concludes with a view of the next generation.

Angelo Basile is a Full Professor and a leading authority in membrane science and technology. Since 2014, he has served as Full Professor in Systems, Methods and Technologies of Chemical Engineering Processes at CNR-ITM in Rende, Italy. His work covers hydrogen purification and production using membrane reactors, CO₂ capture, process intensification, and the treatment of industrial effluents with advanced membrane operations. Basile has edited many scientific books and authored numerous book chapters, bridging complex research with clear knowledge for engineers and scientists. Motivated by the role of AI/ML in accelerating membrane process design and automation, he supports integrating data-driven methods for smart plants and reaction–separation optimisation.

Dr. Alberto Figoli obtained his PhD degree at Membrane Technology Group, Twente University (Enschede, The Netherlands) in 2001. He graduated in Food Science and Technology at the Agriculture University of Milan 1996. Since December 2001, he has a permanent position as Researcher at Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR) in Rende (CS), Italy.

He also had international experience in industrial research labs: about 1 year (1996) at Quest International Nederland B.V. (ICI), Process Research Group, Naarden (The Netherlands) on “Setting of a pilot plant for aromatic compounds extraction using the pervaporation (PV) membrane technology”; Secondment in 2010 and 2011 at GVS, SpA, Bologna, within the EU project “Implementation of Membrane Technology to Industry” (IMETI) on “Preparation and Characterisation of hybrid membranes for VOCs removal”.

He was granted for the “Short Term Mobility Programme” by CNR, in 2004 and 2005, at the “Environmental Protection Agency of United States (USEPA)”, Sustainable Technology Division, Cincinnati (USA) on “Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and aroma removal using a novel asymmetric membrane by pervaporation” nell’ambito dello “Short Term Mobility Programme” funded CNR.

He is responsible and involved in various National and International projects. He is also responsible, within the CNR organisation, for two research lines on membrane preparation and characterisation and on pervaporation (PV) applications.

He is author of more than 60 research papers in peer reviewed journals, several book chapters, a book, two patents and many oral presentations (also as invited lecture) in National and International Conferences and Workshops.

Dr. Mohamed Khayet is director of the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM) Research Group “Membranes and Renewable Energies (MER)” and Professor (Applied Physics Area) at the Faculty of Physical Sciences (UCM) (Department of Structure of Matter, Thermal Physics and Electronics). He got his Ph.D. (1997) in Physical Sciences and he realized various research stays in various international institutions (Industrial Membrane Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada; Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology in Warsaw, Poland; Centre for Clean Water Technologies at the University of Nottingham in UK; Singapore Membrane Technology Centre and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Yale University in New Haven, USA; University of California Berkeley in USA, etc.). Among other grants, he got the Fulbright Grant (2019). He is an expert in the field of membrane science, nanotechnology and renewable energies. He has coordinated various national and international projects (over 20) funded by different institutions (European Union, Middle East Desalination Research Centre, Spanish Ministries; Companies such as Abengoa, etc.) on membranes and modules engineering for different separation processes. He published over 200 papers in international journals, filed 6 International Patents, published 5 books and various book chapters in the field of membrane science and related technology. Among other recognitions, he received the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) in 2012. He edited various special issues in international journals such as Desalination, Polymers and Membranes. He acted as Editor of the international Journal “Desalination” (2018-2022) and served as associated editor of different journals. Currently, he is member of the Editorial Board of various journals related with water treatment, renewable energy, nanotechnology, membrane science and separation processes.

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- ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5117-2975