Models and experiments with pervaporation membrane reactors integrated with an adsorbent system

A new concept of a hybrid pervaporation membrane reactor (PVMR) system, which integrates the pervaporation step through a membrane with adsorption in the permeate side is described. Coupling pervaporation with adsorption provides potential synergies in overcoming the equilibrium limitations in reversible reactions, particularly for dilute reacting systems, slow reactions, nonvolatile products, or imperfect membranes. A model experimental system is selected, namely the esteritication of acetic acid by ethanol, coupled through an asymmetric hydrophilic polymeric membrane to a water adsorbent system. The emphasis in this paper is also on utilizing the experimental data for validating a model, previously developed by our group, for the study of such reactors. The reactor model performs adequately in describing the experimental data. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.