Separation of 5-propanol-water mixture with capillary porous plates

Distillation of the 2-propanol-water mixture of different compositions was experimentally studied in a continuous distillation column equipped with po lar and nonpolar porous plates as well as normal sieve plates. The results showed that while no separation was achieved in a distillation column with porous carbon plates or with conventional stages, the azeotropic point of t his system was broken in a distillation column with polar sintered stainles s steel porous plates. A distillate of about 80.0 mol% 2-propanol was obtai ned fora feed of azeotropic composition, i.e., 68.0 mol% 2-propanol. These results showed that the main factors affecting the separation efficiency in a given porous plate are the polarization of the pure liquids and porous p lates as well as the polarization difference between the mixture components .