ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the use of cellulose nitrate membrane in separation and treatment of various organic-water systems that are encountered in industrial usage. Membrane technologies have become established as an alternative for environmental applications to conventional mass exchange technologies, such as absorption, adsorption, or extraction. The membranes used in hydrophilic pervaporation include polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylonitrile, and cesium polyacrylate. Pervaporation can be treated as a new technology, depending on the permeating components. It can be classified as hydrophilic pervaporation and organophilic pervaporation. Some of the products separated successfully using pervaporation are methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, cyclohexanol, benzyl alcohol, acetone, butanone, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetonitrile, benzene, toluene, phenol, methylacetate, ethylacetate, triethylamine, pyridine, methyl tert-butylether, dioxane and tetrahydrofuran. The experimental set-up consists of a feed tank, a stop valve, a tubular pipe made of Perspex, condenser, collector, and a vacuum pump arranged in series.
