Pervaporation of Aroma Compounds Using Virgin and Silicalite‐Filled Organophilic Membranes: Effect of Aroma Compound Structure and Comparison with Distillation Selectivity

Abstract

Pervaporative recovery of individual aroma compounds having different functional groups is studied using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as well as silicalite filled PDMS (PDMS SA‐5) membranes. The aroma compounds studied are linalool, citronellal, menthone, and β‐ionone. The performance of both the membranes was compared. The effective selectivity of organophilic membranes is compared with the vapor–liquid equilibria (VLE) selectivity estimated using thermodynamic data. Effect of the nature of each aroma compound on its pervaporation performance is also discussed. Sorption effect was found to be predominant in determining the pervaporation selectivity.

Keywords:

• Organophilic pervaporation
• Aroma compounds
• Vapor–liquid equilibrium
• PDMS membrane