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Pervaporative Dehydration of Methanol Using PVA/Nanoclay Mixed Matrix Membranes: Experiments and Modeling
Asmaa Selim1,2, András Jozsef Toth1, Daniel Fozer1
1Environmental and Process Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical and Environmental Process Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1521 Budapest, Hungary.
Membranes
|December 22, 2020
Summary
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/laponite nanoclay mixed matrix membranes efficiently remove water from methanol solutions via pervaporation. A PVA10 membrane achieved a separation factor of 1120, and Model II accurately described the process.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Separation Science
Background:
- Industrial need for efficient water removal from methanol solutions.
- Pervaporation as a promising separation technique for liquid mixtures.
- Development of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for enhanced separation performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To prepare and characterize polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/laponite nanoclay MMMs for methanol-water dehydration.
- To investigate the effect of nanoclay content on membrane performance.
- To study the influence of operating parameters (temperature, feed concentration) on pervaporation efficiency.
- To model the pervaporation process using established solution-diffusion models.
Main Methods:
- Simple exfoliation method for preparing PVA/laponite MMMs.
- Pervaporation experiments for methanol-water dehydration.
- Systematic variation of nanoclay content (0-10 wt%).
- Investigation of temperature (40-70 °C) and water feed concentration (1-15 wt%) effects.
- Application and comparison of Rautenbach (Model I) and Valentínyi et al. (Model II) solution-diffusion models.
Main Results:
- PVA10 membrane (10 wt% Laponite) showed excellent separation efficiency.
- Maximum separation factor of 1120 achieved at 40 °C and 1 wt% water feed.
- Pervaporation performance was significantly influenced by feed concentration and temperature.
- Model II (modified Valentínyi et al.) provided a more accurate description of the pervaporation process compared to Model I.
Conclusions:
- PVA/nanoclay MMMs are effective for dehydrating methanol-aqueous solutions via pervaporation.
- The prepared membranes offer high separation efficiency.
- The pervaporation process can be accurately modeled using the modified Valentínyi et al. solution-diffusion model (Model II).
