Pervaporation Separation of Tetrahydrofuran/Water Azeotropic Mixtures using Phosphorylated Blend Membranes

Authors

  • Subba Reddy Alla
    Affiliation
    Analytical Development Laboratory, Apicore LLC, 08873 New Jersey, USA
    Biopolymers and Thermophysical Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Sri Venkateswara University, 517502 Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Venkata Subbaiah Munagapati
    Affiliation
    Research Centre for Soil & Water Resources and Natural Disaster Prevention (SWAN), National Yunlin University of Science & Technology, 64002 Douliou, Taiwan
  • Nadavala Siva Kumar
    Affiliation
    Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O.B. 800, 11421 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • Suguna Madala
    Affiliation
    Biopolymers and Thermophysical Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Sri Venkateswara University, 517502 Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Vijaya Yarramuthi
    Affiliation
    Department of Chemistry, Vikrama Simhapuri University, Nellore 524003, Andhra Pradesh, India.
https://doi.org/10.3311/PPch.22461

Abstract

In this study, we developed novel phosphoric acid crosslinked blend membranes for the pervaporation separation of tetrahydrofu-
ran/water mixtures. Sodium alginate and chitosan blend membranes were prepared by solution casting and solvent evaporation technique. These blend membranes were crosslinked with phosphoric acid in isopropanol/water baths and used for pervaporation separation of feed mixtures ranging from 6 to 43 wt.% water in tetrahydrofuran (THF)/water mixtures at 30 °C. Crosslinking was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Ion Exchange Capacity (IEC) study. Thermal stability and crystallinity of the membranes were determined from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies respectively. The surface morphology of the membranes was observed using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Sorption studies were carried out to evaluate the extent of interaction and degree of swelling of the membranes in THF, water and binary mixtures. The effect of experimental parameters such as feed composition, membrane thickness, and permeate pressure on separation performance of the phosphorylated membranes were determined. These membranes were found to have good potential for breaking the azeotrope of 94 wt.% THF with a selectivity of 459 and normalized flux of 0.25 kg m−2 h−1 10 µm. The membrane performance exhibited a reduction in selectivity and an improvement in flux with increasing feed water compositions. Selectivity improved and flux decreased with increasing membrane thickness. Both flux and selectivity decreased with increasing permeate pressure.

Keywords:

acid crosslinking, membrane characterization, pervaporation, sorption studies, tetrahydrofuran/water azeotrope

Citation data from Crossref and Scopus

Published Online

2024-03-07

How to Cite

Alla, S. R., Munagapati, V. S., Kumar, N. S., Madala, S., Yarramuthi, V. “Pervaporation Separation of Tetrahydrofuran/Water Azeotropic Mixtures using Phosphorylated Blend Membranes”, Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering, 68(1), pp. 106–115, 2024. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPch.22461

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