(136f) Coupling Multistage Distillation and Pervaporation

To separate in a quantitative way water and IPA we have simulated a coupled pervaporation-multistage distillation process allowing treating a feed containing water soluble salts. We have performed the experimental study of aqueous solutions of IPA containing 1% to 15 % mass fraction of water at 70 °C, 80 °C, 95 °C and 105 °C with a pilot pervaporation test unit with 1m2 of flat sheet membrane surface area (Sulzer Chemtech). The test unit was equipped with a GFT 1001 PVA based membrane. We have modelized empirically the flux of IPA and water through the membrane vs. the temperature and the concentration of the feed. The water mass flux is proportional to the mass fraction of water in the feed. The IPA flux is linearly dependent on the water mass fraction in the feed. An Arrhenius like equation describes the dependency of both mass transfer coefficients on the absolute temperature.