Technical Session - 7

Title:           Fabrication and characterization of tubular ceramic-supported maleic acid / poly (vinyl alcohol) composite membranes for dehydration of ethanol by pervaporation
Authors:      Nguyen Huu Hieu, Nguyen Minh Kha
Abstract:     Maleic acid (MA) was used as a cross-linking agent for fabrication of MA/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) flat sheet and tubular ceramic-supported MA/PVA membranes by solvent evaporation and dip-coating methods, respectively. The effect of MA concentrations (0-40 wt% MA with respect to PVA) on pervaporation (PV) performance of MA crosslinked PVA (MA/PVA) flat sheet membranes for dehydration of 80 wt% ethanol solution was investigated. The characterizations of MA/PVA flat sheet membranes were performed by X-ray diffraction spectrum, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, swelling rate, and contact angle measurement. The characterization and PV experimental results showed that MA concentration of 20 wt% was suitable for cross-linking PVA membrane. Number of interior coating times of MA/PVA layer on the ceramic tube was studied by PV experiments. The results indicated that 4 time coated tubular composite membrane presented high flux and good selectivity of 0.064 kg/m2 h and 30.2, respectively for dehydration of 80 wt% ethanol solution at 50 oC and vacuum pressure of 100 kPa. In addition, the structure of tubular ceramic-supported 20 wt% MA/PVA composite membrane was taken by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM image revealed that the average thickness of thin MA/PVA active layer was less than 50 ?m coated on inside of the ceramic tube.

Keywords:   Tubular, Ceramic-supported, Maleic Acid, Poly (vinyl alcohol), Composite Membrane, Dehydration, Ethanol, Pervaporation.
Pages:          345-350

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