An heuristic-based selection process for organic solvent nanofiltration membranes.

Organic solvent nanofiltration has emerged as a versatile tool for process intensification in chemical production. Due to the complex interactions between membrane, solvent and solute, the transport mechanism has not yet been clarified and it is rather difficult to identify the best membrane for a given separation problem. Currently, this is solved by time-consuming and costly membrane screening experiments. To accelerate process development an heuristic for membrane selection is required. Therefore, the rejections of different substances with varying functional groups out of a material class of specialty chemicals were measured. The most typical membrane materials (Polydimethylsiloxane and Polyimide) and a wide range of solvents were used. From these experiments, parameters were identified which influence the membrane performance. A combination of these parameters in an heuristic allows for the identification of the most suitable membrane for a given separation problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]