PEBAX membranes for water desalination by pervaporation process

Abstract

Hydrophobic dense membrane PEBAX were prepared, and their suitability for a water pervaporation process was studied. The effects of the following parameters on the water flux were determined as operating conditions [brine inlet temperature (28—54°C) and NaCl concentration in the feed brine (0—3.5 mol L-1)]. A water flux of 1.3—7 g m-2 h-1 was obtained using this type of membranes. It was found that, for our application, the optimal specifications for our membrane is a thickness of 100 μm and an operating temperature of 50°C that allow us to have a water flux of 7 g m-2 h-1 in the permeate side. These data are required for the manufacturing of a novel desalination system based on this type of dense membranes.