This paper reviews the characteristics of membrane distillation technology and the current research progress and hot issues,and compares the latest research progress of membrane distillation tech-nology in terms of membrane material characteristics,membrane wetting and pollution,membrane material modification,research and application in oil and gas field produced water,etc.Membrane distillation tech-nology was found to have great potential for the treatment of oilfield talent effluent,and the energy con-sumption limitation of membrane distillation technology can be improved by using low-grade thermal ener-gy and coupling other processes.The improvement of membrane materials to obtain high flux and pollution resistant hydrophobic membranes is the key to achieve industrial application of membrane distillation technology.