Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2011
In this work, the dehydration of an industrial ketonic solvent used in the chemical industry is investigated by means of pervaporation (PV) using commercially available silica membranes (from Sulzer Chemtech and Pervatech BV). The solvent used is an industrial acetone-water mixture, with minor quantities of other reaction products. The initial water content is 30wt.%. The removal of water by PV has been previously experimentally studied using a polymeric Symplex membrane (GKSS), with relative success though the selectivity was low. Recent developments in the inorganic membrane field have led to the commercial availability of silica microporous membrane materials, like those used in this study. The performance of these ceramic membranes is compared, regarding their fluxes and selectivities. A simplified mathematical model is applied in order to be able to predict the pervaporation flux through pervaporation membranes.