Pervaporation of Aqueous Ethanol Mixtures through Poly(Dimethyl Siloxane) Membranes

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Abstract
The separation of ethanol/water mixtures by pervaporation with a poly(dimethyl siloxane) membrane has been studied. The membrane exhibited ethanol selectivity during all process runs. Investigations focused on the effects of temperature and permeate-side pressure on membrane transport with dilute ethanol feed solutions. An increase in temperature increased the flux exponentially but had little effect on selectivity. as the permeate-side pressure was increased, the flux decreased. Selectivity did not change appreciably over the pressure range evaluated. Studies also analyzed the effect of feed concentration on flux and selectivity. Flux increased and selectivity decreased as the ethanol feed concentration increased. The permeate concentration profile is superior to a standard vapor-liquid equilibrium curve at low ethanol feed concentrations.