Performance of PES Membrane Contactor on the Separation of Dilute Acetic Acid from Aqueous Forms

Abstract

The azeotropic characteristics of acetic acid between water make its separation from its aqueous phase essential. Many methods are studied for separating such a mixture. Solvent extraction using membrane contactors can increase the contact surface area. The dilute aqueous acetic acid extraction with the solvents petroleum ether and diisopropyl ether in a Poly Ether Sulfone (PES) hollow fiber membrane contactor was studied. The solvents and membrane extraction abilities are evaluated by exchanging the fluids on the shell and tube sides based on the distribution coefficients and total mass transfer coefficient at various flow rates. The findings show that when the solvent flow is increased, whether on the shell side or the tube side, the concentration of acetic acid increases in its solvent phase. As the shell side Reynolds number increased, it was noticed that the distribution coefficient value also increased. Both solvents' extraction ability was minimal, but diisopropyl ether gave better results when compared with the petroleum ether in terms of distribution coefficient. Three film resistance parameters in the series model have determined the overall mass transfer coefficient. The Reynolds number values showed that the mass transfer occurs in a laminar zone. Changes in the petroleum ether's Reynolds number on the tube side resulted in a maximum mass transfer coefficient of 11.41x10-6 m/s. Data on such hydrodynamics studies on membrane solvent extraction can help recover value-added material studies.