Modelling of mass transfer during pervaporation of ethanol/water mixture using polydimethylsiloxane membrane

The application of pervaporation (PV) as a membrane-based separation process for the recovery of dilute organic solutes has become a promising alternative to conventional distillation due to its easy scaleup, energy-saving, process continuity. The present study aims at the modelling of mass transfer during the pervaporation process for ethanol recovery from ethanol/water mixture using a solution-diffusion model at different concentrations (5-20%), and different temperatures (30-60 degrees C). The results revealed that the estimated values of ethanol reference permeance and water reference permeance were respectively Q(0eth) = 11.77 +/- 0.10 g/m(2) h kPa and Q(0water) = 13.31 +/- 0.16 g/m(2) h kPa. It was also found that the estimated value of ethanol activation energy (E-a(eth)) was 60.40 +/- 6.40 kJ/mol whereas the estimated value of water activation energy (E-a(w)) was 56.09 +/- 5.05 kJ/mol. The validation of the suggested solution-diffusion model was assessed in terms of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) using fermentation broth where it showed high accuracy with a low value of MAPE for the ethanol flux (MAPE = 2.8%), water flux (MAPE = 2%), total flux (MAPE = 3.2%). These findings suggest the solution-diffusion model as an efficient tool for optimizing and controlling the pervaporation process when it is coupled with continuous alcoholic fermentation for bioethanol production. (C) 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study utilized a solution-diffusion model to investigate the pervaporation process for ethanol recovery from ethanol/water mixture, showing high accuracy and efficiency in optimizing and controlling the process. The model was validated with fermentation broth, demonstrating low mean absolute percentage errors for ethanol, water, and total flux, indicating its potential as an efficient tool for bioethanol production.