EXTRACTION OF ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS BY PERVAPORATION

The extraction of dichloromethane, chloroform, bromoethane, acetone, and ethanol in dilute aqueous solutions by pervaporation using silicone tubular membranes was studied. The solutes studied did not affect the permeation flux of water; the flux of organic compounds increased linearly with their concentration in the solutions while the water flux remained constant for all solute-water solutions. The presence of an electrolyte or another organic solute did not influence the permeation of a given solute. The permeant components appear to behave independently of each other in the permeation process. The selectivity of the silicone membrane for halogenated hydrocarbons was greater than that of cellulose acetate and microporous polytetrafluoroethylene membranes.