Progress in Filtration and Separation

7. Hybrid Systems

Hybridization of processes in which pervaporation is applied in conjunction with another separation method is a very promising approach that combines the advantages of classical processes (e.g., distillation) and membrane separations. Pervaporation has a clear advantage for concentrations around the azeotropic composition. The application of pervaporation avoids the use of entrainers (in extractive or azeotropic distillation) or pressure variations (in pressure-swing distillation), and reduces the number of trays. On the other hand, the separation factors for mixtures at concentrations not near the azeotrope might be insufficient to compete cost-wise with classical separation processes. As already mentioned, pervaporation is ...