Application of commercial PEBA-based membranes in separation of sulfur compounds from gasoline by vacuum pervaporation

摘要

The aim of this work was to investigate the potential applicability of PEBA-based membranes in the pervaporation (PV) separation process of sulfur compounds from gasoline. The commercial PEBA membrane (PERVATECH, the Netherlands) was used in the vacuum PV separation process of model hydrocarbon/thiophene mixtures to examine their selectivity and transportation properties. Interactions between typical C-8 hydrocarbon present in gasoline (n-octane, octene and isooctane) and the membrane were studied. The influence of PV process parameters on the efficiency of thiophene removal was also examined. The experiments with chosen C-8 hydrocarbons confirmed that the structure of a component and the resulting differences in the affinity toward the PEBA membrane and physico-chemical properties can influence the membrane performance. Total fluxes for n-octane/thiophene, isooctane/thiophene and octene/thiophene mixtures were equal to 1.33, 1.62 and 1.77 kg m(-2) h(-1) at 30 degrees C, with the corresponding separation factor values of 7.00, 6.42 and 5.46, respectively.