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Separation of Volatile Organic Compounds from Water by Pervaporation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

R.W. Baker
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Extract

Pervaporation is a membrane process used to separate liquid mixtures. Separation is achieved by a combination of evaporation and membrane permeation. As a result, the process offers the possibility of removing dissolved volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water, dehydrating organic solvents, and separating mixtures of components with close boiling points or azeotropes that are difficult to separate by distillation or other means.

A schematic diagram of the pervaporation process is shown in Figure 1. In the example shown, the feed liquid is a solution of toluene in water which contacts one side of a membrane that is selectively permeable to toluene. The permeate, enriched in toluene, is removed as a vapor from the other side of the membrane. The driving force for the process is the difference in the partial vapor pressures of each component in the feed liquid and the permeate gas. This driving force can be increased by raising the temperature of the feed liquid to increase its vapor pressure or by decreasing the permeate gas pressure. The permeate gas pressure can be adjusted by using a vacuum pump, but industrially the most economical method is to cool and condense the vapor. Condensation spontaneously generates a vacuum. The permeate vapor pressure is then determined by the temperature of the permeate condenser and the composition of the permeate liquid generated by cooling and condensing the permeate vapor.

Pervaporation membranes are made by coating a thin layer of selective polymer material onto a microporous support.

Type
Membranes and Membrane Processes
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , March 1999 , pp. 50 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1999

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References

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