Citation:

Vane, Leland M. Review of pervaporation and vapor permeation process factors affecting the removal of water from industrial solvents. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology. John Wiley and Sons, LTD, , Uk, 95(3):495-512, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.6264

Impact/Purpose:

Organic solvents serve a variety of functions in the manufacture of chemicals and materials in the worldwide economy. The production, use, and disposal of industrial solvents result in emissions that potentially impact human health and the environment. These impacts can be reduced through the recovery and reuse of the solvents. The EPA’s 2015 Definition of Solid Waste Rule encouraged the reuse/re-processing of 18 higher-value hazardous spent solvents used in the pharmaceuticals, paints and coatings, plastics and resins, and basic organic chemicals industrial sectors. The technical challenge to solvent reuse is the application of separation technologies to recover those solvents from mixtures with other processing materials and to purify them to meet quality specifications. Water can be a problematic contaminant because it forms difficult-to-separate “azeotropic” mixtures with most of the 18 solvents identified in the Definition of Solid Waste Rule. An FY18 SHC 3.63.2 deliverable was a review of materials that can remove water from industrially-important solvents, with an emphasis on two emerging membrane-based separation technologies: pervaporation and vapor permeation. In this product, the design of pervaporation and vapor permeation processes using these membranes for solvent drying is reviewed. The properties of the specific membrane and of the solvent substantially affect the separation accomplished by a pervaporation or vapor permeation process. Equally important, is the impact of operating parameters on the overall separation. To study these impacts, simplified process performance equations and detailed spreadsheet calculations were developed for single-pass and recirculating batch pervaporation systems and for single-pass vapor permeation systems. This information will assist end-users in evaluating these alternative solvent drying technologies for inclusion in a potential solvent reclamation/reuse system. This review contributes to an SHC 3.63.2 FY19 deliverable.

Description:

A recent review article (Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology 94: 343–365 (2019)) identified several commercially‐available permselective materials for drying organic solvents with pervaporation (PV) and vapor permeation (V·P) separation processes. The membrane materials included polymeric and inorganic substances exhibiting a range in the performance characteristics: water permeance, water/solvent selectivity, and maximum use temperature. This article provides an overview of the factors affecting the design of PV/V·P processes utilizing these membranes to remove water from common organic solvents. Properties of the specific membrane and of the solvent substantially affect the PV/V·P separation. Equally important is the impact of operating parameters on the overall separation. To study these impacts, simplified process performance equations and detailed spreadsheet calculations were developed for single‐pass and recirculating batch PV systems and for single‐pass V·P systems. Estimates of membrane area, permeate concentration, solvent recovery, permeate condenser temperatures, and heating requirements were calculated. Process variables included: solvent type, water permeance, water/solvent selectivity, initial and final water concentrations, operating temperature (PV) or feed pressure (V·P), temperature drop due to evaporation (PV) or feed‐side pressure drop (V·P), and permeate pressure. The target solvents considered were: acetonitrile, 1‐butanol, N,N‐dimethyl formamide, ethanol, methanol, methyl isobutyl ketone, methyl tert‐butyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, acetone, and 2‐propanol. Published 2019. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

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