The performance of sodium A (NaA) zeolite membranes with a surface area of 4.91 cm(2), synthesized on an alumina support via microwaving (MW) and autoclaving (AC, or conventional heating) using the recycle-continuous pervaporation of a water-ethanol mixture (10:90 vol.%), was studied. It was found that the process could produce ethanol having a concentration close to 100% (higher than 99.5%) after passing the mixture through the membrane for 120-140 h. The time-dependence separation factor and the total water flux were 3350-6050 and 0.4-1.0 kg/m(2)/h, respectively. The time-dependence separation factor of this process was increased to higher than 10,000 when the percentage of ethanol at the retentate side was higher than 98%. The overall results showed good stability of the membranes for the water-ethanol separation. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.