Screening of pervaporation membranes with the aid of conceptual models: An application to bioethanol production

摘要

In this paper, we assess the performance of a given hydrophobic membrane from the conceptual design of a hybrid process formed by the hydrophobic membrane itself and the separation train located downstream. To this end, a single pervaporation experiment with a model ethanol-water mixture is needed to estimate the minimum area requirement of the hydrophobic membrane. Short-cut methods, on the other hand, can be used to estimate the minimum number of stages and reflux ratio of the distillation column. Estimation of the minimum area requirement for a hydrophilic membrane, which is considered to overcome the azeotropic composition, requires the integration of a spatially one-dimensional isothermal mass transfer model of the unit until the desired biofuel purity is achieved in the corresponding retentate stream.