Membrane separation process-Pervaporation through zeolite membrane

Membrane separation process has become one of the emerging technologies that undergo a rapid growth for the past few decades. Pervaporation is one of the membrane separation processes that have gained increasing interest in the chemical and allied industries. It is an effective and energy-efficient technology that carries out separations, which are difficult to achieve by conventional separation processes. Inorganic membrane such as zeolite membranes with uniform, molecular-sized pores offer unique type of pervaporation membrane for a number of separation processes. This review presents the role of zeolite membrane and its progress in the pervaporation process. The fundamental aspects of pervaporation over different types of membranes are reviewed and compared. The focus of this review is on zeolite membrane covering: (a) synthesis of zeolite membranes; (b) membrane characterization; (c) pervaporation studies; (d) its applications in alcohol dehydration, organic/organic separations and acid separations. The transport mechanism during pervaporation is discussed and the issues related with pervaporation are addressed. Innovation and future development of zeolite membrane in pervaporation are also presented. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.