Effect of Process Factors on Pervaporation Dehydration of Isopropanol

The paper aimed at studying the performances of pervaporation separation of isopropanol-water system using a Pervatech ceramic membrane at various values of feed mixture flow rate (F=1000 kg/hr), feed water mass fraction (xF=0.1-0.2), operation temperature (t=60-90 C), permeate pressure (pP=1000-9000 Pa) and water separation degree (sW=0.9, 0.95). Membrane total flux and separation factor were predicted applying a second order response surface model with 3 factors, i.e., xF, t and pP. An algorithm for estimating the membrane surface area was presented. Membrane area increased with sW and xF and its lowest values (A=13 m2 for xF=0.1 and A=24 m2 for xF=0.2) were attained for t=60 C and pP=9000 Pa. These findings could be applied for optimizing the process of isopropanol dehydration by pervaporation.