Butanol-1 Dehydration via Pervaporation Using Membranes Based on Thermally Rearranged Polymer

Abstract

The process of dehydration of n-butanol as one of the most used solvents and a biofuel base has been studied by a membrane separation method with the use of vacuum pervaporation. Nonporous diffusion membranes based on a thermally rearranged polymer and its hydrolytically stable prepolymer have been selected as the objects of the research. The main physicochemical parameters of the membranes, such as contact angles, surface tension, membrane density, and the results of sorption tests, are reported. Transport properties of the membranes have been studied for separation the water–n-butanol mixture with the water content in the mixture varied from 10 to 75 wt %. It has been shown that thermal rearrangement of the polymers leads to structure compacting and to more selective penetration of water molecules through the polymer matrix, thereby facilitating effective removal of water impurities from n-butanol.