Theoretical and experimental study of integrated membrane / distillation processes for industrial applications

In industrial practice the separation of an azeotropic mixture usually involves adding a third component to the distillation process to break the azeotrope. The major disadvantages of this so called azeotropic and extractive distillation are the relatively high capital and high energy costs and the possibility of product contamination. A rather new alternative for breaking azeotropes and a fine example of process intensification is coupling membranes with distillation. High performance membranes are required for successful commercial implementation. In addition to large flux and selectivity, membrane stability at higher temperatures in harsh chemical environment is quite important. Considering the fact that permeation at higher temperature gives larger fluxes, resulting in smaller membrane areas, inorganic porous membranes could find a wider application in practical separation and purification processes. However conditions that are beneficial for membranes can result in a disadvantage for the distillation side. Membrane separation at elevated temperatures may require distillation to be operated at an increased pressure, which increases both the number of stages and the energy requirement. Advantages and disadvantages should be balanced appropriately to arrive at an optimized integrated process. In this thesis, the above mentioned features are addressed (Chapter 1). The study focuses on the industrial implementation of ceramic membranes. For this purpose simulations (Chapter 3), lab scale (Chapter 4, 6 and 7) and pilot experiments (Chapter 5) are carried out with different systems.Laboratory for Process Equipment (API)Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin