Properties of high flux ceramic pervaporation membranes for dehydration ofalcohol/water mixtures

In this paper, a set of performance data of a ceramic pervaporation membran e, provided by ECN, Petten, The Netherlands. is described. Fur the dehydrat ion of alcohol/water mixtures, these membranes appear to combine high selec tivities with high permeabilities. resulting in a high Pervaporation Separa tion Index (PSI). At 70 degreesC the water flux and separation factor for t he dehydration of isopropanol (water concentration varied between 1 and 7 w t.%) range from 0.45 to 2.8 kg/(m(2) h), and 340-600, respectively. For the dehydration of n-butanol (water concentration varied between 1 and 5 wt.%) these values are between 0.4 and 2.3 kg!(m2 h) and 680-1340, respectively. These Aux values are high as compared with the ceramic pervaporation membr anes described in the literature. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.