Design of pervaporation modules based on computational process modelling

Abstract A membrane module design tool for organophilic pervaporation, based on modelling and simulation was carried out in this work. A short-cut model based on the MS Excel SOLVER routine and a rigorous model in Aspen Custom Modeler™ (ACM) were developed and used for the optimal design of the PV process. The mass and energy balances were computed simultaneously with both models and a comparison of the results showed that a robust and fast model, suitable for the basic design of membrane modules is possible with Excel, whereas for a rigorous design, the use of ACM becomes necessary.