Ethylene glycol recovery from dilute aqueous solution

This paper deals with an experimental study performed to evaluate the feasibility of a process for the recovery of ethylene glycol from a dilute aqueous solution, such as Poly-Ethylene-Terephtalate wastewater. According to the proposed process aqueous solutions, at 1.3% by weight of ethylene, glycol was submitted to a preliminary evaporation stage, followed by the treatment of the collected distillate in a reverse osmosis unit. The main aim of this study was to find the operative conditions of each treatment unit that ensured the concentration of the solution up to the grade required in the pure ethylene glycol production process, to allow the recovery of ethylene glycol and to minimize its consumption.