Isopropyl alcohol
Background Art
Isopropyl alcohol is an important chemical product and raw material, primarily used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, plastics, fragrance, and coatings industries. In the pharmaceutical industry, it is widely employed as a solvent or extractant. Isopropyl alcohol can form an azeotrope with water (containing 12.6 wt% water), and conventional production and recovery processes rely on azeotropic distillation and extraction, which are energy-intensive and generate significant pollution. Molecular sieve adsorption for dehydration is impractical for industrial use due to the excessively high water content. Pervaporation technology, by contrast, can substantially enhance separation efficiency while reducing process energy consumption.
Technical Comparison
Comparison of Different Separation Processes
| Production process |
Energy consumption |
Equipment costs |
Operational complexity |
| Benzene azeotropic distillation |
High |
High |
Complex |
| Membrane dehydration |
Low |
Low |
Simple |
| Extractive distillation |
High |
Relatively high |
Complex |
