Experimental and simulation studies of operation parameter effects on pervaporation of hollow fiber supported NaA membranes

A series-resistance mass transfer model was used to study pervaporation (PV) permeation of ethanol/water mixtures through hollow fiber supported NaA membranes. The permeation of the mixture through the zeolite membrane layer was described by a generalized Maxwell-Stefan equation, while the permeation of the mixture through the hollow fiber support was described by a combined Knudsen diffusion and viscous flow model. Effects of feed temperature and water content on PV performance were extensively investigated. The results show that the simulation results are in agreement with the experimental results. The water flux increases with the increase of operating temperature and feed water content, but it decreases with the increase of operating pressure at permeate side. The water adsorption on the membrane side is saturated under high feed water contents, which results in little variation of water flux as a function of feed water content. When the permeate pressure is above 1 kPa, water pressure increases notably at the interface between the zeolite and support layers.