{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T05:05:56Z","timestamp":1789103156095,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788912000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007129","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["ZR2024QE144"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZR2024QE144"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007129","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Program of the University of Jinan","award":["XBS2423"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XBS2423"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2025M780584"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025M780584"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Youth Innovation Team Development Program of Higher Education Institutions in Shandong Province","award":["TJY2504"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TJY2504"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Membranes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Membrane distillation, a separation technology, has drawn wide attention in industries such as seawater desalination and high-salinity wastewater treatment. However, conventional steady-flow operation suffers from flux decline and membrane fouling, while standard square-wave and sine-wave pulsations provide limited enhancement and stability. To address these issues, this study introduces heartbeat-mimicking pulsatile flow. Its effects on membrane distillation performance were evaluated through comparative (steady vs. pulsatile) experiments, a three-level orthogonal experiment, and tests with various feed solutions and modified membranes. Results show that, under baseline conditions, the heartbeat-mimicking pulsatile flow yielded a 17.5% higher average flux than steady flow, while its conductivity increase was only 25%, far below the 93% for steady flow. In the orthogonal experiment, the heartbeat-mimicking waveform accounted for the largest proportion of total variance (50.1%) among the tested parameters. Furthermore, compared to traditional sine or square waves, this biomimetic pulsation features unique acceleration-rest characteristics, making it highly applicable to complex feed solutions and effectively mitigating membrane fouling. This study aims to identify a new pulsation mode that can overcome the limitations of steady-flow membrane distillation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/membranes16090295","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T08:05:43Z","timestamp":1788941143000},"page":"295","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Research on the Characteristics of Heat Transfer and Mass Transfer of Imitation Heart Pulse Membrane Distillation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Xiaoxuan","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China"},{"name":"School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhoujun","family":"Lan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhuang","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Guoshun Co., Ltd., Jinan 250030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Derong","family":"Duan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhongyi","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1016\/j.memsci.2016.04.004","article-title":"Dewatering of source-separated human urine for nitrogen recovery by membrane distillation","volume":"512","author":"Tun","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Membr. Sci."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Zhang, J. (2020). Study on the Formation and Influence of Pollutants in the Process of Seawater Desalination by Membrane Distillation. [Master\u2019s Thesis, South China University of Technology]."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"270","article-title":"Latest research progress in application of membrane distillation technology","volume":"50","author":"Li","year":"2022","journal-title":"New Chem. Mater."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118035","DOI":"10.1016\/j.memsci.2020.118035","article-title":"Synergy of slippery surface and pulse flow: An anti-scaling solution for direct contact membrane distillation","volume":"603","author":"Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Membr. Sci."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124841","DOI":"10.1016\/j.memsci.2025.124841","article-title":"Multi-perspective visualization of flow and membrane fouling in membrane distillation in geothermal brackish water","volume":"738","author":"Zhu","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. Membr. Sci."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"906","article-title":"Research progress on application of polyvinylidene fluoride membrane distillation technology in water treatment","volume":"84","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Chemistry"},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"96","article-title":"Preparation of PVA-PAA\/PTFE composite membrane and its performance in concentrating landfill leachate by membrane distillation","volume":"42","author":"Li","year":"2022","journal-title":"Membr. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116535","DOI":"10.1016\/j.desal.2023.116535","article-title":"Bio-based tannic acid as a raw material for membrane surface modification","volume":"555","author":"Zhou","year":"2023","journal-title":"Desalination"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124863","DOI":"10.1016\/j.memsci.2025.124863","article-title":"Superhydrophobic spherical-beads-on-string membrane for high-flux, scaling-resistant hypersaline brine distillation","volume":"738","author":"Zhang","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. Membr. Sci."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1016\/j.memsci.2014.09.042","article-title":"Fouling and its control in membrane distillation\u2014A review","volume":"475","author":"Tijing","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Membr. Sci."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"97","article-title":"CFD simulation of vacuum membrane distillation process and membrane module design","volume":"40","author":"Tang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Membr. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"52","article-title":"Study on the design and analysis methods of orthogonal experiment","volume":"27","author":"Liu","year":"2010","journal-title":"Exp. Technol. Manag."}],"container-title":["Membranes"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0375\/16\/9\/295\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T04:11:54Z","timestamp":1789099914000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0375\/16\/9\/295"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]]},"references-count":12,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["membranes16090295"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/membranes16090295","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0375"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0375","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]]}}}