The 2020 China Membrane Industry Development Summit and the (Third) Membrane Industry "Matahu" Summit Forum with the theme of "Technological Innovation, Industrial Linkage, Collaborative Integration, and Win-Win Cooperation" ended successfully in Huantai County, Shandong Province. Xing Weihong , vice president of Nanjing University of Technology, introduced in detail the "pervaporation membrane isopropanol production The two technologies of "new process " and " purification of tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent by pervaporation membrane " have attracted extensive attention from the participants.
▲Vice President Xing Weihong made a keynote speech
A new process for the production of isopropanol by pervaporation membrane
Isopropanol is an important chemical product and raw material, and is widely used as a solvent or extraction agent. Traditional production and recovery adopt dehydration and separation processes such as azeotropic distillation and extractive distillation, which are complex in operation, high in energy consumption and serious in pollution, causing most manufacturers to treat them as waste.
The new production process of pervaporation membrane isopropanol independently developed by Jiutian Hi-Tech adopts inorganic pervaporation molecular sieve membrane to dehydrate the ternary azeotrope of acetone-isopropanol-water produced in the production process from 12wt% water content to 0.5wt%, and then return to the front end to react again. This process can significantly improve separation efficiency and reduce process energy consumption . It has been used in Shenyang Sanjiu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Ruiyang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Qianhui Pharmaceutical (Anhui) Co., Ltd., Changzhou Yabang Qihui Pharmaceutical Chemical Co., Ltd. Many companies have successfully applied it, which has significantly increased the yield of isopropanol (>5%) and product added value, and provided a new solution for the production of isopropanol in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry.
▲Production process
Purification of THF Solvent Using Pervaporation Membrane
In the format reaction process of petrochemical and pharmaceutical chemical industries, the water content in tetrahydrofuran solvent is extremely high (generally less than 500ppm), and the solvent needs to be dehydrated and reused after use. The pressure swing rectification method used in the traditional THF dehydration consumes more than 1.5 tons of steam per ton of product, the recovery rate of THF product is low, and the tower kettle is prone to produce peroxides, which brings hidden safety hazards in operation.
In response to the above problems, Jiutian Hi-Tech has independently developed a pervaporation membrane for purification of tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent, which shortens the separation process of THF and water, increases the product recovery rate by 4~5%, and consumes only 0.35 tons of steam per ton of product. At the same time, due to the operation at low temperature and low pressure, the system security is better. At present, the project has been successfully applied in dozens of enterprises such as Chongqing Tiandi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Lianhua Technology Co., Ltd., Changzhou Jiaerke Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., Qilu Anti (Linyi) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and achieved good results. economic and social benefits.
▲Membrane device
Compared with traditional rectification and adsorption technologies, the pervaporation membrane separation technology with completely independent intellectual property rights of Jiutian Hi-Tech is more efficient, energy-saving, economical and environmentally friendly . Based on continuous innovation and breakthroughs in technology, Jiutian Hi-Tech has won high recognition from the market, and has been identified as a national high-tech enterprise, a national intellectual property advantage enterprise, a technological innovation demonstration enterprise in China's petroleum and chemical industry, a cutting-edge enterprise in China's membrane industry, Nanjing The city abides by the contract and values the credit enterprise , etc. The company's related technical achievements won the first prize of the 2012 China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation Technical Invention Award, the 2017 China Membrane Industry Association Science and Technology Award, the 2019 Jiangsu Science and Technology Award and many other honors.