Poisoning of mixed matrix membranes by fermentation components in pervaporation of ethanol
ABSTRACT(#br)Pervaporation is an alternative to distillation for recovering ethanol produced by fermentation of grains and biomass. Ethanol-selective mixed matrix membranes of the hydrophobic zeolite ZSM-5 in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have superior performance compared to pure PDMS membranes in pervaporation of clean ethanol/water solutions, but are susceptible to performance reduction when pervaporating fermentation broths. The effects of pervaporating a variety of solutions with 60\u003cce:hsp sp=\"0.25\"/\u003ewt% ZSM-5/PDMS membranes were studied.