Integration of Pervaporation and Distillation for Efficient Solvent Recovery in Chemical Industries

Abstract

The interest in hybrid separation technologies has increased due to the need to develop energy efficient and ecologically sustainable solvent recovery systems in the chemical industry. This research focuses
on enhancing solvent recovery by integrating pervaporation and distillation with particular emphasis on
azeotropic and close-boiling mixtures that traditional methods struggle with. Pervaporation, a membrane based technique, separates components by selective removal based on affinity and permeability while
distillation separates based on volatility. It is our intent to merge both techniques so that greater separation
efficiency is obtained while reducing energy consumption and operational costs. In this document, we present
a complete system design, performance analysis, and benchmark evaluation through a case study of ethanol–
water separation using a distillation column setup which serves as the benchmark. The findings showed
marked improvements in recovery efficiency (up to 35%) and energy savings relative to traditional
distillation. The results also showed that a polymeric pervaporation membrane offered the required
selectivity and sufficient durability over long operational durations. The configured system overcame the
azeotropic barrier while increasing the throughput. The combination of pervaporation and distillation
improves not only the effectiveness of separation but also sustainable practices in industry, and as such,
warrants further exploration. These findings endorse the use of hybrid separation systems for more complex
solvent mixtures in chemical processing. Further research is suggested to investigate scaling up the system,
developing new materials for the membrane, and optimizing the processes in real-time.