RECOVERY OF ETHYL-ACETATE FROM PROCESS EFFLUENTS USING PERVAPORATION TECHNOLOGY

The recovery of ethyl acetate from dilute aqueous process waste stream s commonly found in the specialty chemical and pharmaceutical industry has been shown to be effectively performed by membrane pervaporation. A silicone membrane filled with a zeolite material, ''silicalite,'' p roved extremely effective in yielding high ethyl acetate selectivities under a variety of processing conditions. Permeate ethyl acetate conc entrations in excess of 90% were obtained for processing aqueous feed mixtures from 1 to 8% ethyl acetate. The effects of feed concentration , temperature and permeate-side pressure were examined. Flux increased with increasing feed concentration and temperature, and decreased wit h increasing permeate-side pressure.