Abstract
The sustainable design of separation and polymer synthesis processes is of great importance. Therefore, an energy-efficient process for the purification of tetrahydrofuran (THF)–water (H2O) solvent mixtures from an upstream polymer synthesis process in pilot scale was developed with the aim to obtain high purity separation products. The advantages and limitations of a hybrid process in the pilot scale were studied utilizing an Aspen Plus Dynamics® simulation at different pressures to prove the feasibility and energy efficiency. For the rough separation of the two components, distillation was chosen as the first process step. In this way, a separation of a water stream of sufficient quality for further precipitations after polymer synthesis could be achieved. In order to overcome the limitations of the distillation process posed by the azeotropic point of the mixture, a vapor permeation is used, which takes advantage of the heat of evaporation already used in the distillation column. For the purpose of achieving the required low water contents, an adsorption column is installed downstream for final THF purification. This leads to a novel hybrid separation process that is energy efficient and thus allows also the use of the solvents again for upstream polymer synthesis achieving the high purity requirements in a closed-loop process.
Highlights
Nowadays, it is increasingly important to work more sustainably in chemistry
Intelligently designed hybrid processes combining the advantages of different separation techniques are attractive, especially when the focus is put on low energy consumption
Based on the assumption that the stream resulting from the previous simulation of the combined process of stripping column with membrane module should be purified at a typical liquid adsorption superficial velocity value of 0.17 cm·s−1, the diameter of the adsorption column is 5 cm
Summary
It is increasingly important to work more sustainably in chemistry. One area to be addressed is purification, e.g., for enabling the reuse of organic solvents. Intelligently designed hybrid processes combining the advantages of different separation techniques are attractive, especially when the focus is put on low energy consumption. Membrane separation processes are known for their energy efficiency and are straightforwardly integrated with distillation They convince with several advantages in their application, such as high selectivity, the moderate cost-to-performance ratio, avoidance of entrainers, steady-state operation, and compact and modular design [7]. The use of membrane processes for the dehydration of process streams has already been investigated with different membrane materials, but no high-quality solvent purification, as aimed for in this study, has been achieved [9,10].
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