Separation of phenol-water mixture by membrane pervaporation using polyimide membranes

Separation of components of aqueous waste streams containing organic pollut ants is not only industrially very important but also is a challenging proc ess. In this study, separation of a phenol-water mixture was carried out by using a membrane pervaporation technique with indigenously developed polyi mide membranes. The membranes were found to permeate water selectively. The total flux as well as that of the individual components were measured. The effect of lithium chloride modification of polyimide film on total flux wa s investigated. The total flux obtained with 2% lithium chloride modificati on was about 3.6 times higher than that obtained with virgin membrane. The effects of different parameters such as feed composition and temperature on flux, and separation factor were determined. With modified membrane, a sep aration factor as high as 18.0 was obtained for water at 27 degreesC and wi th 8.0 wt % phenol solution. (C) 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 822-829, 2002.