Abstract:
The recovery of furfural via a conventional separation technology like distillation and solvent extraction requires very large energy consumption and high amount of chemical solvent. Thus, there is a need for an alternative separation process that is economic and more energy friendly for the furfural recovery. Pervaporation is a well - recognized energy friendly and effective separation tool. If there is suitable pervaporation membrane with efficient separation performance, the pervaporation can be a promising replacement for the conventional separation method. Therefore, this thesis aims to develop a suitable membrane for furfural recovery via pervaporation process. In this work, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) selective membranes with the addition of zeolite socony mobil – 5 (ZSM – 5), octanitropheyl (ONPS) and octaaminophenyl (OAPS) at various concentration (5 – 20 wt%) were prepared. The result showed that membrane prepared with OAPS showed the best separation factor compared to membrane incorporated with other fillers. The low polarity of OAPS improved the interaction between the filler and furfural. The increase amount of OAPS filler loading could enrich the separation factor because the extra OAPS not only increased the furfural pathway but also decreased the water diffusion rate. The PDMS membrane with 15 wt% of OAPS could purify furfural from 3 wt% to 20 wt% furfural concentration. The increase of feed temperature would improve the total flux of membrane because the partial vapor pressure was increased. The separation factor was increased at the temperature ranged 30 – 50 ˚C then dropped at 60˚C. While at feed temperature 60˚C, the effect of free volume would have more impact over the increased of partial vapor pressure so the separation reduced.
