Pervaporation of binary and ternary mixtures of acetone, isopropyl alcohol and water using polymeric membranes: Experimental characterisation and modelling

This paper discusses experimental investigations and mathematical modelling of pervaporation for binary and ternary mixtures of acetone, isopropyl alcohol and water using the hydrophilic polymeric membrane PERVAP (TM) 1210. The experimental results show a strong increase of water and organic permeances with increasing water mass fractions in the feed while selectivities are decreasing. The increasing organic permeances result from coupling effects between water and organic molecules during the transport through the membrane. However, no coupling between both organic permeances could be identified for the ternary system. The influence of the feed temperature on permeances and selectivities is comparatively smaller. The experimental results are used to identify appropriate trans-membrane mass transfer models for pervaporation and to determine the respective model parameters. The mass transfer models are integrated in a detailed rate-based model for pervaporation and simulated separation characteristics agreed well with experimental data. The applicability of the investigated membrane in a membrane-assisted separation process and the suitability for using the respective mass transfer models in an optimisation-based process design are assessed for the ternary system. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.