Abstract
The simultaneous recovery of dilute acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) solvents from aqueous solutions by air gap membrane distillalion was theoretically assessed. A previously developed and validated Stefan-Maxwell based mathematical model was used for this purpose. It was found that membrane distillation could successfully be used for the recovery of these solvents. Interestingly it was found that butanol could be separated with the highest selectivity and flux though it has the highest boiling point. The effect of operating conditions such as feed and cooling surface temperatures, air gap width, and individual component concentration on the flux and selectivity of these solvents was examined and discussed in this paper.
| Original language | British English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 643-649 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Bioprocess Engineering |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2000 |