Study on the preparation and properties of talcum-fly ash based ceramic membrane supports

Abstract Ceramic membrane method for moisture recovery from flue gas of thermal power plants is of considerable interest due to its excellent selection performance and corrosion resistance. However, manufacturing costs of commercial ceramic membranes are still relatively expensive, which promotes the development of new methods of preparing low-cost ceramic membranes. In this study, a method for the preparation of porous ceramic membrane supports is proposed. Low-cost fly ash from power plants is the main material of the membrane supports, and talcum is the additive. The fabrication process of the ceramic membrane supports is described in detail. The properties of the supports were fully characterized, including surface morphology, phase composition, pore diameter distribution and porosity. Corrosion resistance and mechanical strength of the supports were measured. The obtained ceramic membrane support displays a pore size of about 5 µm and porosity of 37.8%. Furthermore, the water recovery performance of the supports under different operating conditions was experimentally studied. The experimental results show that, the recovered water flux varies with operating conditions. In the study, the maximum recovered water flux reaches 5.22 kg/(m 2 ·h). The findings provide a guidance for the ceramic membrane supports application of water recovery from flue gas.