Improving performance of pervaporation membranes for biobutanol separation

AbstractIn view of the growing energy consumption, biofuels are becoming an important part of the fuel market. Biobutanol, thanks to its favorable properties, may replace gasoline in the future. However, appropriate purification and separation methods are required to improve the efficiency of biobutanol production. Membrane processes such as pervaporation (PV) offer a promising alternative to the traditional methods of biobutanol recovery from fermentation broths. The paper focuses on biobutanol separation by PV as well as evaluation of membrane performance and identification of the best production technology. PERVAP 4060 commercial membranes as well as novel ionic liquid membranes were used to concentrate butanol. The ionic liquid membranes were prepared by mixing ILs with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and hardening by polycondensation. In general, PERVAP 4060 offers high butanol flux but low selectivity. On the other hand, the IL-PDMS membrane provides higher butanol selectivity, compared to the commercia...