Studies of a pervaporation membrane batch reactor

Abstract Pervaporation processes are being increasingly adopted for environmental applications, and also for developments in many industrial reactions and their reactor systems. This study is related to pervaporation‐facilitated esterification. A parametric study was carried out in order to provide a fundamental understanding of the reactor behaviour. A batch reactor integrated with a pervaporation unit was selected as the model system. The model validity was confirmed by comparison with literature data. Simulations demonstrated that conversions exceeding equilibrium limits can be achieved by using pervaporation to remove water from the reaction mixtures, and that complete conversion of one reactant is possible when the other reactant is present in excess. Simulations also showed that conversion was less effected by the presence of water, which can be either in the reaction medium or as an impurity of the reacting reagent. The influence of several process parameters on reaction performance is discussed; for example membrane permeability, membrane area, volume of the reaction mixtures, temperature, excess reactant versus conversion, and water concentration in the reactor. Copyright © 2010 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.