Synthesis, Characterization And Performance Of Zeolite A Membrane For The Recovery Of Alcohol From Alcohol-Water Mixture Using Pervaporation Process
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Date
2010-06
Authors
Wee, Shin Ling
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Abstract
The separation performance of the commercial ceramic membrane and selfsynthesized
zeolite A membrane was studied for the recovery of alcohol from
alcohol-water mixture using pervaporation method. Zeolite A membrane was
synthesized on a-alumina tubular and disc-shaped supports using the microwave
synthesis method. The seeding effect on the membrane synthesis was investigated.
The synthesized zeolite membranes were characterized by XRD (structure), SEM
(membrane thickness) and TGA (thermal stability). Pervaporation experiments at
different operating conditions were conducted to evaluate the membrane separation
performance. The results showed that the performance for the membrane synthesized
with seeding was much better than those synthesized without seeding.
Commercial ceramic membrane supplied by Pervatech BV was used in the
pervaporation process studies on isopropanol and ethanol aqueous solutions. The
effects of feed temperature, feed concentration, permeate pressure and feed flow rate
on the membrane separation performance were studied using design of experiments
(DOE) coupled with response surface methodology (RSM). The center composite
design (CCD) was used to obtain optimum process condition. The results showed
that in order to obtain an acceptable permeation flux of 2.41 kglm2.h and optimum
selectivity of 1131, the temperature, isopropanol feed concentration, permeate
pressure and feed flow rate were 75°C, 94 wt%, 1 kPa and 84 dm3/h respectively.
The optimum permeation flux of 9.16 kg/m2.h was obtained at temperature of 90°C,
isopropanol feed concentration of 81 wt%, permeate pressure of 1 kPa and feed flow
rate of 100 dm3/h respectively. The optimum selectivity of 1415 was obtained at the
temperature of 69°C, isopropanol feed concentration of 96 wt%, permeate pressure
of 1 kPa and feed flow rate of 41.05 dm3/h respectively.
A basic pervaporation transport model was employed to determine the
separation parameters for the pervaporation process from the experimental data. The
water flux was predicted from the model using the separation parameters. The
simulated flux data were in agreement with the experimental flux data within an error
of ± 10%. The activation energy for water and isopropanol permeation flux
determined from Arrhenius type relation was 44.1-47.2 kllmol and 66.5-84.0 kJ/mol
respectively.
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Keywords
The separation performance of the commercial ceramic membrane and selfsynthesized zeolite , recovery of alcohol from alcohol-water mixture using pervaporation method.