Separation of organic mixtures using gas separation or pervaporation and dephlegmation
AssigneeMembrane Technology and Research, Inc.
InventorsJohannes G. Wijmans, Richard W. Baker, Anurag P. Mairal
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Abstract
A process for treating mixtures of organic components, including azeotropic mixtures. The process includes a gas- or liquid-phase membrane separation step in conjunction with a dephlegmation step to treat at least a portion of the permeate vapor from the pervaporation step. The process yields a membrane residue stream, a stream enriched in the more volatile component as the overhead stream from the dephlegmator and a condensate stream enriched in the less volatile component as a bottoms stream from the dephlegmator. Any of these may be the principal product of the process.
Claims47
A process for treating a mixture of two or more organic compounds, the process comprising:
- (a) performing a membrane separation step by:
- (i) providing a membrane having a feed side and a permeate side;
- (ii) providing a driving force for transmembrane permeation;
- (iii) passing the mixture as a feed fluid stream across the feed side;
- (iii) withdrawing a residue fluid stream from the feed side;
- (iv) withdrawing from the permeate side a permeate vapor stream enriched in at least one organic compound compared with the feed fluid stream;
- (b) providing a dephlegmator having a coolant flow side and a gas stream flow side and adapted for partial condensation of a gas stream by providing countercurrent flow between the rising gas stream and a falling condensate stream;
- (c) passing at least a portion of the permeate vapor stream into the dephlegmator as a feed gas stream;
- (d) flowing a coolant across the coolant flow side in heat-exchanging relationship with the feed gas stream;
- (e) withdrawing an overhead vapor stream from the dephlegmator;
- (f) withdrawing a bottoms condensate stream from the dephlegmator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.