Permeation behaviour in cellulose triacetate dense membrane during pervaporation separation of methanol/methyl tert-butyl ether mixture

The pervaporation separation of methanol/methyl tert-butyl ether through cellulose triacetate dense membranes has been carried out under different feed compositions, permeation temperatures and temperature cycles to investigate the permeation behaviour of the membrane during pervaporation process. The experimental data indicate that the plasticization effect has a decisive influence on pervaporation flux, permselectivity and permeation activation energy. The results show that the penetrants of different feeds are transported through the membrane by different pathways with the influence of plasticization effect at different temperatures. It has also been observed that plasticization had great effect on the membrane swelling and sorption selectivity. Furthermore, DSC results show that the membranes retain the influence of the plasticization effect after pervaporation separations are tested. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry