Recovery of ethanol from low concentration solution by adsorption with Silicalite

Technical Report · Sat Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6032497

Ake, T R

The composition and total mass of the adsorbate, which is present on Silicalite after exposure to liquid or vapor phase mixtures of water and ethanol, are measured. The liquid phase experiment demonstrates that the adsorbent used in this work is similar to that used in previous studies. Silicalite strongly adsorbs ethanol, but the adsorbate recovered is not highly enriched. A recovery process with liquid phase solutions does not appear promising. The composition and mass of the adsorbate are more accurately measured in this study by vapor phase methods. A mass balance is closed to within 1%. The total mass adsorbed is found to agree with predictions of a Langmuir mixture model, which is based on total mass data in a previous study. But the ethanol content of the adsorbate is less than estimated by the model. The adsorbate is found to contain a maximum of 80% by weight ethanol compared to estimate of 85% or more. In addition, the molar selectivity of Silicalite decreases from a value of 4 at moderate ethanol concentrations to 1 at high concentrations. The Langmuir model estimates a fixed value of 14. Use of Silicalite in an adsorption process is suggested for recovering ethanol from low concentration mixtures.

• Research Organization: Ames Lab., IA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-82
• OSTI ID: 6032497
• Report Number(s): IS-T-1171; ON: DE85004874
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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ADSORBENTS
ALCOHOLS
ETHANOL
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ION EXCHANGERS
ION EXCHANGE MATERIALS
MATERIALS
MINERALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
RECOVERY
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
ZEOLITES