ABSTRACT Separation of alcohol‑water mixtures by pervaporation is a widely investigated technique since it represents an alternative method to conventional separation processes such as distillation. In the case of organic compounds being separated from diluted aqueous solutions, polymeric materials, such as poly(1‑trimethylsilyl‑1‑propyne) (PTMSP), are selective to organic molecules. In this work, the pervaporation of diluted ethanol water mixtures with an hydrophobic membrane has been evaluated. The effect of operation conditions (concentration and temperature of the feed mixture) and membrane characteristics (thickness) have been studied in order to establish how these parameters affect the membrane performance during pervaporation of ethanol‑water solutions. It has been found that ethanol concentration in the feed solution and membrane thickness cause a reverse trend in the separation factor and the permeation flux, and thus, an optimal value of these parameters should be established in order to obtain optimal yields in the pervaporation of ethanol‑water solutions. On the other hand, selectivity remains constant while the permeation flux increases with operation temperature, being possible to work at high temperature without diminishing the selectivity of the separation process.
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