A qualitative investigation on the importance of boundary layer in pervaporation separation of an aqueous organic reaction

Abstract

The importance of boundary layer was investigated for the hydrolysis of ethyl acetate using a dense standard poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membrane. A resistance in a series model approach was used to study the effect of a boundary layer for the permeation of aqueous organic mixtures involved in the study. The initial feed mixture consisted of 10% water (H2O), 40% ethyl acetate (EA), 50% acetic acid (AA), and 0% ethanol (E) (all weight percentage basis). The experiments were conducted at 65°C. The amount of all species in the feed reservoir was found to decrease with time. Selectivity calculations based on a resistance in the series model approach indicates that the boundary layer contributes to selective permeation of aqueous organic compounds. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 70: 2361–2369, 1998