Concentration of Bio-Ethanol through Cellulose Ester Membranes during Temperature-Difference Controlled Evapomeation

摘要

To evaluate the high-performance of membrane materials in the concentration of an aqueous solution of dilute bioethanol under temperature-difference controlled evapomeation (TDEV), asymmetric porous cellulose nitrate (CN) and cellulose acetate (CA) membranes were prepared by a phase inversion method. In the concentration of dilute ethanol under TDEV, these membranes showed a high permeation rate and high ethanol/water selectivity. In membranes with almost the similar pore size, the ethanol/water selectivity was considerably higher for the CN membrane than the corresponding CA membrane. This result suggested that the affinity between the membrane material and the permeant is an important factor in the separation selectivity.