PERMEATION IN FILLED MEMBRANES - ROLE OF SOLUTE-FILTER INTERACTIONS

An experimental study of permeation in membranes containing adsorptive fillers is reported. The aim of the study was to investigate the effe ct of solute adsorption on the permeation flux. Pervaporation of pure components in the homologous series of lower (C-1-C-3) alcohols and lo wer carboxylic acids was used for the experimental studies which invol ved measurement of sorption and permeation data. The results indicate that the permeation flux decreases with increasing equilibrium sorptio n capacity of the filler for iso-propanol and the carboxylic acids whi ch are strongly adsorbed by the fillers. Using the theoretical model p roposed by Cussler et al. [1] as the basis, a correlation for the perm eation flux of these solutes is obtained. This correlation incorporate s the effect of solute adsorption on the permeation flux. For ethanol and methanol which are weakly adsorbed implying that desorption is eas y, the permeation flux increases with the incorporation of the fillers .