Membrane-Assisted Volatile Organic Compound Removal from Aqueous Acrylic Latex Is Faster Than from Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

Solutes such as butyl ether and acetone, which cause unpleasant smells in latex paint, can be stripped from aqueous solutions using a porous membrane. The different mass transfer coefficients in this stripping are dominated by diffusion in the aqueous solution, and behave as expected from boundary layer theory. These solutes can also be stripped without foaming from latex paints whose viscosities are 20−50 times higher than those of aqueous solutions. For the more hydrophobic solutes such as butyl ether, the mass transfer coefficients in latex are smaller than those in water, as expected from theory. For more hydrophilic solutes such as ethanol, the mass transfer coefficients can be as much as 4 times larger. This unexpected result, inconsistent with conventional theory, may result from latex particles serving as a source and can be described by coupled diffusion and desorption.

Performance study of pervaporation in a microfluidic system for the removal of acetone from water

“…The created concentration gradient or the partial pressure difference across the membrane is the driving force for the separation process. The advantages of PV, regarding energy requirements and simple process control, allow for competitive applications like separating VOCs from water, aqueous acrylic latex, dehydrating organic solvents, and organic-organic solvent separation [16][17][18][19][20]. The study of VOC pervaporation using microfluidic devices is of particular interest due to the notorious concentration polarisation, or depletion, resulting in severe mass transport limitations.…”