PERVAPORATION : It is a membrane technical method for the separation of mixtures of liquids by partial vaporization through a non-porous or porous membrane..

It is employed when distillation cannot be employed like for azeotropic mixtures.(EX: ethanol-water, isopropyl alcoholwater) Cos separation of close boiling mixtures usind distillation,liq-liq extraction is difficult as compounds have similar physico-chem properties.

PRINCIPLES OF PERVAPORATION: Is the only membrane process where phase transition occurs. Liq mixture is kept in direct contact with 1 side of membrane and permeated pdt(pervaporate)is removed in the form of vapor. At least the heat of vaporization have to be supply. The mass flux is achieved by maintaining the downstream pp lower than the saturation pressure on the permeate side by: gas carrier, vacuum or temperature difference. The driving force is the partial pressure difference of the permeate between the feed and permeate streams. The permeate pressure has to be lower than the saturation pressure of the permeant to achieve the separation.

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Pervaporation involve a sequence of three steps: Selective sorption Selective diffusion through the membrane BY PERMEATION. Desorption into a vapor phase on the permeate side BY VAPORISATION.

BASIC PRINCIPLE: It involves: 1)evaporation.- the temp of feed liqis elevated to pt wer sat vap comes in contact with membrane. 2)permeation.- the vapor diffuses from feed side,across membrane to permeate side.a condenser is installed on permeate side to create a pressure lower than feed side.mathemattically,second process is defined as ratio of components in te permeate vapor to ratio of components in feed vapor. The vapor permeate is at least partially condensed to produce a liq pdt.any uncondensable vapor is purged out. Mass flux is due to cont adsorption on one side and desorption on the other.

DESIGN FOR PERVAPORATION MODULE:

FACTORS AFFECTING PERVAPORATION: 1)FEED COMPOSITION AND CONCENTRATION:a change in the feed composition directly affects te sorption phenomena at the liq membrane interface.this can b proved by solution diffusion principle,and as diffusion of the components in the membrane is dependant on the conc of the components,the permeation characteristics are,hence dependant on the feed conc as well. 2)FEED AND PERMEATE PRESSURE: The driving force in pervaporation is the partial pressure ddiff of components which in turn is dependant on activity gradient of components.the permeate pressure is directly related to the activity of components at downstream side of membrane and strongly influences the pervaporation characteristics.the max gradient can b obtained for zero permeate presuure,n thus for higher permeate pressures,the feed pressure influences the pervaporation characteristics. 3)TEMPERATURE: As temp of feed increases,the permeation rate generaaly follows arrhenius type eqn.the selectivity is strongly dependant on temp,in most small cases a small dec in selectivity is observed with inc temp.

CONCENTRATION POLARIZATION: DESIGN OF PERVAPORATION MODULE: MEMBRANES FOR PERVAPORATION: The choice of the membrane material has direct bearing on the separation effect to be achieved. It depends on the feed solution.the performance of the membrane is determined by the degree ofseparation of fluid mixtures and permeation rate(flux).Two main kinds of polymers for pervaporation may be identified

1.COMPOSITE MEMBRANES: Tey consist of two layers. The first layer is porous,polymeric support coated with a second polymer,the active or permselective layer,which preferentially adsorbs the chemical species. EX :asymmetric composite hydrophilic membrane lik PVAPS[POLY(VINYL ALCHOL)-POLYSULPHONE] 2.HYDROPHILIC MEMBRANES: Tey r used to remove wter from organic solutions. Cos of hydrophilic charcter,tese membranes enable te extraction of wter with fluxes and selectivity depending upon chemical structure of te active layer and its mode of cross linking. Tey r made up of organic polymers having glass transition temp above room temp. EX: polyvinyl alcohol. 3.ELASTOMERIC(ORGANOPHILIC): Tey are used to recover organics from solutions. Tey r polymers with glass transition temperature below room temp. EX: butadiene rubber,styrene butadiene rubber. MEMBRANE MODULE: Hollow fiber module: This module is used with an insideout configuration to avoid increase in permeate pressure within the fibers, but the outsidein configuration can be used with short fibers. Another advantage of the inside-out configuration is that the thin top layer is better protected but higher membrane area can be achieved with the outside-in configuration Plate and Frame: This module is mainly used for dehydration of organic compounds. Spiral wound module: This module is very similar to the plate and frame system but has a greater packing density and offers hihg mem surface area per module

and allows for high feed flow rates. This type of module is used with organophilic membranes to achieved organic solutes frm dil .aq solns Tubular modules: Inorganic (ceramic) membranes are produced mainly as tubes, then the obvious module is the tube bundle for applications that used this kind of membranes. On the other hand, for sweep gas pervaporation, tubular membranes conducting the gas-permeate mixture are the only option. MASS TRANSFER IN PERVAPORATION: mass flux across the membrane can b described as a partial diff between feed saturated vapour pressure and permeate vapour pressure. As permeate pressure dec and approaches the feed pressure,the flux dec toz ero in a linear matter. Wen temp of feed is incd,sys is able to handle a high flux of wter.thats why the feed streams are heated before entering the membrane housing. The final sep of feed liq is the pdt of sep achieved by evaporation of liq and sep achieved by permeation thru membrane. It consists of following five steps: a) Transport of component from feed soln to surface of membrane. b) Selective sorption of component at memb surface. c) Diffusional transport of component thru the membrane. d) Desorption of component at permeate side of membrane e) Transfer of the component from the membrane surface to bulk of permeate. 1st n last steps are fast n takes placev at equim. Diffusion is kinetic and slow. Permeation is dependen ton sorption and diffusion process. Selectivity is controlled by relative sorption of components being separated.

 Major parameters involved in sorption and diffusion steps are:temp,pressure,conc mt.wt.,size and shape of molecule,crystallinity of polymeric materials. Sorption involves thermo aspects while diffusion is related to kinetic factors. Due to low pressure on permeate side,desorption step is normally the fastest one and does nt contribute much to overall mass transfer resistance. APPLICATIONS:

ADVANTAGES: It minimizes thermal degradation of heat sensitive cmpds,such as flavor essences.

No entrainer required,no contamination. No adsorbents used which requires regeneration. Due to modular design,evn small units cn operate economically. Better selectivity without thermodynamic limitations. No process wastes. It is continous and offers immediate recovery of solvents in Indus.

Significantly reduced energy consumption for hybrid systems. With low temp and pressure involved,it often has cost and performance advantage for sep of azeotropic mixtures.

DRAWBACKS Scarce membrane market. Lack of information. Low permeate flows. Better selectivity without thermodynamic limitations. LIMITED APPLICATIONS: Organic substances dehydration. Recovery of volatile compounds at low concentrations. Separation of azeotropic mixtures.