Pervaporation: A Resourceful and Energy-Efficient Technique to Fluid Separation

Pervaporation: A Resourceful and Energy-Efficient Technique to Fluid Separation  
By Secoya Technologies
Pervaporation stands as a membrane separation technique that combines permeation and evaporation, offering an energy-efficient method for extracting volatile compounds from solutions through a selective membrane. By applying a vacuum or introducing a flow of purge gas on one side of a dense membrane, volatile compounds within a liquid flow diffuse through the membrane. This process can dehydrate organic solutions and eliminate organic contaminants from aqueous solutions using selective membranes. Unlike other methods, pervaporation bypasses azeotropic limitations due to its utilization of a dense membrane, enhancing its energetic efficiency. To enhance efficiency and control, Secoya integrated the pervaporation process into a microfluidic device, reducing its footprint.
         

 Figure: Schematic working principle of pervaporation (Secoya, 2024)
As stated, “Modeling the microfluidic pervaporation device alongside optimization algorithms enables us to determine the most favourable outcome based on the mixture's thermodynamic properties. This facilitates easy evaluation of process feasibility and allows for the proposal of a suitable design. Subsequent small-scale tests serve to validate the model, after which the pervaporation device can be manufactured and equipped with instruments.”
The potential applications of pervaporation include inline removal of alcohol from cell cultures to boost productivity, intensification of esterification or elimination reactions through equilibrium displacement, liquid/liquid separation, especially with temperature-sensitive (bio-) products, gas perfusion in various processes, and concentration of aqueous solutions. 
For different pervaporation equipment, kindly check the Secoya website.