Permeation behaviour in cellulose triacetate dense membrane during pervaporation separation of methanol/methyl tert-butyl ether mixture

The pervaporation separation of methanol/methyl tert-butyl ether through ce llulose triacetate dense membranes has been carried out under different fee d compositions, permeation temperatures and temperature cycles to investiga te the permeation behaviour of the membrane during pervaporation process. T he experimental data indicate that the plasticization effect has a decisive influence on pervaporation flux, permselectivity and permeation activation , energy. The results show that the penetrants of different feeds are trans ported through the membrane by different pathways with the influence of pla sticization effect at different temperatures. It has also been observed tha t plasticization had great effect on the membrane swelling and sorption sel ectivity. Furthermore, DSC results show that the membranes retain the influ ence of the plasticization effect after pervaporation separations are teste d. (C) 2000 Society of Chemical Industry.