The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	VOC removal from nitrogen by a membrane-based combined absorption-stripping process
Author:	Xia, Boya
View Online:	njit-etd1998-113 (xix, 120 pages ~ 3.4 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Environmental Science
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Chemical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Sirkar, Kamalesh K. (Committee chair) Luo, Robert G. (Committee member) Loney, Norman W. (Committee member)
Date:	1998-01
Keywords:	Volatile organic compounds--Absorption and adsorption. Membrane separation.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	A regenerative membrane-based absorption process has been extensively studied to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from air/N2 using silicone oil as absorbent. The absorbent liquid is regenerated by applying vacuum in a membrane-based stripper. In this process, there are no flooding, loading and entrainment, which limit the gas/liquid flow rate in the traditional absorption process. In the present study, attention has been focused on the removal of volatile component(s) from binary gas mixtures such as methanol-N2, and toluene-N2, and from a model multicomponent mixture of gasoline vapor constituents and nitrogen. The process performance was tested under three conditions: i) absorption with fresh absorbent; ii) both absorption and stripping modules at the same (room) temperature; iii) maintaining different temperatures in the absorption and stripping modules. Henry's law constants and diffusivities of VOCs in silicone oil have been measured at different temperatures for simulation purpose. The experimental results have been compared with theoretical predictions.