PERVAPORATION SEPARATION OF ETHANOL WATER MIXTURES USING CROSS-LINKED BLENDED POLYACRYLIC-ACID (PAA) NYLON-66 MEMBRANES

The pervaporation separation of ethanol–water mixtures was carried out through a series of ionically crosslinked polyacrylic acid (PAA)–nylon 66 blended membranes crosslinked to varying degrees in aluminum nitrate solution. Optimum pervaporation results were obtained from crosslinked blends containing 75 wt % nylon 66 and 25 wt % PAA. The optimum crosslinking time was found to be between 30 and 40 h. The optimum operating temperatures of the pervaporation runs were found to be 2–3°C below the boiling points when the highest permeation flux reached 857.6 (g/m2 h) and the best separation factors (water/ethanol) were 10.1. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.