Development of Cellulose Acetate Propionate Membrane for Separation of Ethanol and Ethyl tert-Butyl Ether Mixtures

Abstract

For pervaporation separation of ethanol and ethyl tert-butyl ether mixtures, a cellulose acetate propionate membrane was chosen as the experimental membrane because of its high selectivity and good mass fluxes. The properties of the membranes were evaluated by the pervaporation separation of mixtures of ethyl tert-butyl ether/ethanol and the sorption experiments. The experimental results showed that the selectivity and the permeates depend on the ethanol concentration in the feed and the experimental temperature. With increases of the ethanol weight fraction in the feed and the temperature, the total and partial mass fluxes increased. With respect to the temperature, ethanol mass flux obeys the Arrhenius equation. The selectivity of this membrane decreases as the temperature and the ethanol concentration in the feed increase. This membrane shows special characteristics at the azeotropic composition. In the vicinity of the azeotropic point, minimum values of ethanol concentration in the permeate and in sorption solution are obtained. The swelling ratios increase when temperature and the ethanol concentration in the feed are increasing. The ethanol concentration in the sorption solution is also influenced by the temperature and the mixture's composition. When the temperature increases, the sorption selectivity of the membrane decreases.