Separation of dilute aqueous butanol and acetone solutions by pervaporation through liquid membranes

A simultaneous extraction‐stripping process is proposed for separating volatile products from fermentation broths, it is based on pervaporation through a liquid membrane supported with a hydrophobic porous membrane. The liquid membrane prepared with oleyl alcohol was selected as the most suitable for separating volatile products resulting from acetone‐butanol fermentation. The separation performance and stability of the oleyl alcohol liquid membrane were investigated by using dilute aqueous butanol and acetone solutions. The oleyl alcohol liquid membrane was found to be superior by far in both selectivity and permeability of butanol to the better known silicone rubber membrane in its high selectivity for alcohols. Using the oleyl alcohol liquid membrane, the dilute aqueous butanol solutions of around 4 g/L obtained in acetone‐butanol fermentation could be concentrated up to 100 times. The stability of this liquid membrane was also quite good as long as the surface tension of the feed solution was less than the critical surface tension of the support membrane. No change in the separation performance was found after the continuous usage in a long period of 100 h.

[1]  M. Matsumura,et al.  Elimination of ethanol inhibition by perstraction , 1986, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[2]  J. P. Choudhury,et al.  Separation of ethanol from ethanol-water mixture by reverse osmosis. , 1985, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[3]  Masahito Taya,et al.  PRODUCTION OF BUTANOL BY CLOSTRIDIUM ACETOBUTYLICUM IN EXTRACTIVE FERMENTATION SYSTEM , 1985 .

[4]  C. A. Smolders,et al.  Preferential sorption versus preferential permeability in pervaporation , 1985 .

[5]  Woori Ko,et al.  Reverse osmosis concentration of ethyl alcohol aqueous solution. , 1984 .

[6]  Richard D. Noble,et al.  Liquid membrane transport: a survey , 1982 .

[7]  G. D. Mehta.  Comparison of membrane processes with distillation for alcohol/water separation , 1982 .

[8]  S. Kimura,et al.  Pervaporation of alcohol-water mixtures with silicone rubber membrane. , 1982 .

[9]  S. Hwang,et al.  Pervaporation by a continuous membrane column , 1982 .

[10]  Aage Fredenslund,et al.  Vapor−Liquid Equilibria by UNIFAC Group Contribution. 6. Revision and Extension , 1979 .

[11]  J. Neel,et al.  Liquid transport through membranes prepared by grafting of polar monomers onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene) films. II. Some factors determining pervaporation rate and selectivity , 1974 .

[12]  P. Schissel,et al.  Separation of ethanol-water mixtures by pervaporation through thin, composite membranes , 1984 .

[13]  E. Thompson,et al.  Dependence of diffusive permeation rates on upstream and downstream pressures : III. Membrane selectivity and implications for separation processes , 1978 .

[14]  Philippe Aptel,et al.  Application of the pervaporation process to separate azeotropic mixtures , 1976 .

[15]  Robert J. Lee,et al.  Separation of Liquid Mixtures by Permeation , 1961 .