Development of methyl cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose composite membranes for the separation of miscible liquids by applying pervaporation technique

For the first time pervaporation separation of miscible liquids has been investigated using three and five layered composite membranes. The materials used to construct the different membranes consisted of natural rubber latex (NRL), hydrophilic and/ or hydrophobic polymers, placed sequentially on top of each other. Methyl cellulose (MC) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were used as hydrophilic polymers to increase the water selectivity of the membrane and in contrast, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was used to increase the organic component selectivity in the membranes. Two different miscible liquid solutions were used, including ethanolwater and acetonewater. The composition of organic component in the feed was varied within the range of 20 to 90% w/w. The measured mass and concentration of permeate in the cold trap was related to the pervaporation flux and separation factor. Finally, the proposed mechanisms that may be responsible for enhancing the permeation of water or organic components through the membranes have been discussed. It has been demonstrated that the five layered hydrophilic composite membranes containing MC leads to the best pervaporation separation performance for a feed of 90% concentrated ethanolwater, giving a separation factor of 51 and pervaporation separation index of 6167, as opposed to using a blended membrane which would yield a separation factor of 1.5 and pervaporation separation index of 309

Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Penicillin-G from Pharmaceutical Wastewater Via a Developed Polysulfone Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactor

The presence of pharmaceutical wastewater can pose significant challenges to the environment. Since conventional wastewater treatment processes are not efficient for the complete separation of drug materials, solvent extraction through a hollow fiber membrane contactor could be a promising alternative. In this study, a developed polysulfone (PSF) hollow fiber membrane was fabricated using a non-solvent phase separation (NIPS) method to extract penicillin G from aqueous solutions in the membrane contactor system. From the characterization experiments, the prepared polysulfone membrane demonstrates an outer surface contact angle of 69.6°, critical water entry pressure (CEPw) of 250 kPa, total porosity of 72.2%, and collapsing pressure of 500 kPa. The extraction of penicillin G from the aqueous phase was performed with a 5% w/w solution of Aliquat 336. The effect of the operating parameters on the extraction flux of penicillin G was investigated using the response surface method (RSM). The optimum penicillin G flux of 1.46×10-3 kg/m2s was found at an operating pressure of 100 kPa, an aqueous phase flowrate of 70.5 ml/min, and an organic phase flowrate of 200 ml/min. Therefore, the developed PSF hollow fiber membrane contactor can be considered a proper choice to remove antibiotics (penicillin G) from aqueous solutions