Oh WJ  Jung JC  Lee JH  Yeo JG  Lee DH  Park YC  Kim HU  Lee DH  Cho CH  Moon JH

10.7464/ksct.2018.24.3.239

Pervaporation Zeolite membrane Water Ethanol Isopropyl alcohol

In this study, pervaporation experiments of water, ethanol and IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) single components and water/ethanol, water/IPA mixtures were carried out using zeolite 4A membranes developed by Fine Tech Co. Ltd. Those membranes were fabricated by hydrothermal synthesis (growth in hydrothermal condition) after uniformly dispersing the zeolite seeds on the tubular alumina supports. They have a pore size of about 4 A by ion exchange of Na+ to the LTA structure with Si/Al ratio of 1.0, and shows strong hydrophilic property. Physical characteristics of prepared membranes were evaluated by using SEM (surface morphology), porosimetry (macro- or meso- pore analysis), BET (micropore analysis), and load tester (compressive strength). Pervaporation experiments with various temperature and concentration conditions confirmed that the zeolite 4A membrane can selectively separate water from ethanol and IPA. Water/ethanol separation factor was over 3,000 and water/IPA separation factor was over 1,500 (50 : 50 wt%, initial feed concentration). Pervaporation behaviors of single components and binary mixtures were predicted using ACM (activity coefficient model), GMS (generalized Maxwell Stefan) model and DGM (Dusty Gas Model). The adsorption and diffusion coefficients of the zeolite top layer were obtained by parameter estimation using GA (Genetic Algorithm, stochastic optimization method). All the calculations were carried out using MATLAB 2018a version.