Comparison of pervaporation of different alcohols from water on CMG-OM-010 and 1060-SULZER membranes

Pervaporation of methanol-water, ethanol-water and iso-propanol-water mixtures through organophillic CMG-OM-010 and 1060-SULZER membranes has been investigated using a laboratory scale (131 cm(2)) pervaporation unit. The feed composition was 13-20% of alcohol in water, the recirculation flow rate was kept constant (200 l/h) and the temperature was varied between 40-70 C. The permeate concentration reached 30-60% of alcohol after 5 hours run. The avarage permeate flux (J), selectivity (beta), separation factor (alpha), pervaporation separation index (PSI) and activation energy (E) were calculated. The permeate fluxes on the two pervaporation membranes were similar in the case of the same alcohol, but different pervaporating different alcohols. The alcohol flux on both membrane increased with an increase in the temperature. CMG-OM-010 membrane exhibited good separation factor of the three alcohols, over the 1060-SULZER membrane. The most important observation was that a good separation of iso-propanol-water is possible with these membranes.