Separation of alcohol/water gaseous mixtures by thin ceramic membrane

Abstract

A thin porous ceramic membrane made by a method quite similar to that proposed previously2) was used for gas-phase separation of alcohol/water gaseous mixtures (methanol/water, ethanol/water and isopropanol/water systems) at their normal boiling points. The results show that this kind of ceramic membrane is quite efficient for bypassing the azeotropic point in alcohol/water separation and also for further enrichment of alcohols. The separation factor observed for these systems was larger than 5. © 1986, The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan. All rights reserved.