Augmenting Distillation by Membranes: Developments and Prospects

Ž. Olujić, P. Perez, F. T. de Bruijn, J. de Graauw and P. J. Jansens

Abstract
The growing consciousness for sustainable industrial processes has resulted in industrially developed countries in supporting research efforts toward thorough evaluation of possibilities for improving efficiency of energy intensive separations implying also significant reduction of related carbon dioxide emissions. Being inherently thermodynamically inefficient, distillation, which is by far the most widely utilised and energy intensive separation technology in chemical process industries, has become primary target of energy conservation projects in refining, petrochemical and chemical industries. Improvement is an ongoing activity, replacing still beyond comprehension and a great deal of academic effort is oriented towards augmenting distillation by combining it, where appropriate, with membranes, i.e. pervaporation or vapour permeation, which in conjunction with polymeric membranes proved to be an industrially viable alternative to conventional processes for dehydration of alcohols. Present paper addresses recent developments along this line striving for larger fluxes in alcohol dehydrations by utilising ceramic membranes, with focus on vapour permeation, as well as the potential for the recovery of organic solvents and reactants forming azeotropes with other organics.

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Keywords
distillation, hybrid processes, pervaporation, vapour permeation, ceramic membranes