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Petroleum Chemistry, Vol.56, No.10, 977-986, 2016
Vapor-phase membrane concentration of bioethanol and biobutanol using hydrophobic membranes based on glassy polymers
Pervaporation and vapor-phase membrane separation methods for the recovery of bioalcohols from dilute aqueous solutions have been critically compared. The importance of taking into account the liquid-vapor equilibrium diagram in studies on the separation of binary aqueous-alcoholic liquid media by these methods has been shown. Previously published experimental data on the transport of water, ethanol, and n-butanol vapors in hydrophobic membranes based on the glassy polymers poly(vinyltrimethylsilane) (PVTMS), poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP), and poly(4-methyl-1-pentyne) (PMP) have been analyzed. Schemes of butanol and ethanol recovery by the vapor-phase membrane separation process from fermentation broths for the cases of application of water-selective and alcohol-selective membranes have been presented, as well as the results of mathematical simulation of the process and assessment of energy consumption.
Keywords:vapor permeability;membrane vapor separation;separation of water-alcohol mixtures;hydrophobic polymer membranes