Table 4.

Effects of membrane wetting on the MD process.

Effects	Reasons	Comments	Reference
Scaling of membrane	Scaling occurs because of the deposition of inorganic ions and components that reduce the hydrophobicity of the MD membrane	Deposition of crystalline inorganic corrosive foulants	[57,60]
Organic and biofouling	Growth of biofoulants reduces the hydrophobicity and surface tension	Interaction between the aqueous medium and hydrophobic surface	[58,61]
Degradation of membrane	Formation of hydrophilic chemical groups, due to long term use of the membrane	Loss of chemical and mechanical stability makes MD process difficult	[62]
Feed stream-based wetting	Surfactant-based feed stream reduces the liquid entry pressure (LEP) value	The liquid entry pressure (LEP) is directly proportional to the surface tension	[62]