• Plant Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.24-30
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• 2016

The membrane separation processes have received attention due to advantages such as compactness, modularity, ease of installation, flexibility of operation, lower capital cost and lower energy consumption. In this study, we evaluated accuracy of cross-flow, co-current and counter-current models. With the most accurate model, we identified the operating conditions of the two-stage membrane separation and examined the effects of permeance and selectivity of the membrane by simulation. Futhermore, power requirements and operating cost savings due to the introduction of the heat exchanger were investigated by applying heat exchanger network synthesis technique in the two-stage membrane separation using vapor sweep.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.243-248
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• 2005

Membrane pervaporation processes could have advantages over distillation for separation of water/organics mixtures: a low energy demand and the ability to separate azeotropic mixtures or isomers. Zeolite membranes might show better thermal, mechanical and chemical stabilities than polymer membranes. Water could be effectively separated from water/organic mixtures using the NaA zeolite membrane because of its high hydrophilicity. In this study, water was separated by pervaporation using the NaA zeolite membrane from water/ethanol mixtures. As a mole fraction of ethanol increased, the total permeation flux and the water flux decreased while the separation factor increased, reached a maximum point, and decreased. As an experimental temperature increased, the total permeation flux increased while the separation factor increased at the lower mole fraction of ethanol than 0.8 and it decreased at the higher mole fraction of ethanol than 0.8. The total permeation flux and the separation factor could be maintained constant during the long term experiment longer than 160 hours. It was found that the NaA zeolite membrane synthesized in our study showed better performance on water/ethanol separation than that of a distillation process or PVA polymeric pervaporation membranes.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.426-433
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• 2021

In this study, a novel material polyketone (PK) was chosen and PK micro/nano fiber membranes were fabricated via electrospinning method under various conditions. After that, the potential application in oil-water separation was thoroughly investigated. The surface of microfiber membrane formed under high humidity especially became much rougher than that formed under low humidity. When salt was added to the spinning solution, the diameter of fibers was reduced up to 90% and the nanofiber membranes could be formed. The oil/water emulsions were prepared and separated under gravity condition using the manufactured rPK-LNC and PK-H membranes. The separation characteristics was evaluated by measuring total organic carbon (TOC) and turbidity. Meanwhile, the changes in the physical properties of fiber membranes under various conditions and with or without salt, as well as the changes in oil water separation characteristics were also studied.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.114-123
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• 2024

Hydrogen isotopes can be categorized into light hydrogen, heavy hydrogen, and tritium based on the number of neutrons, each of which is used in specific fields. Specifically, deuterium is of interest in the electronics industry, nuclear energy industry, analytical technology industry, pharmaceutical industry, and telecommunications industry. Conventional methods such as cold distillation, thermal cycling absorption processes, Girdler sulfide processes, and water electrolysis have their own advantages and disadvantages, leading to the need for alternative technologies with high separation and energy efficiency. In this context, membrane-based hydrogen isotope separation is one of the promising solutions to reduce energy consumption. In this review, we will present the state-of-the-art in hydrogen isotope separation using membranes and their operating principles. The technology for separating hydrogen isotopes using membranes is just beginning to be conceptualized, and many challenges remain to be overcome. However, if achieved, the economic benefits are expected to be significant. We will discuss future research directions for this purpose.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.181-190
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• 2022

Membrane separation provides various advantages including cost effectiveness and high efficiency over traditional wastewater treatment methods such as flocculation and adsorption. However, the effectiveness of membrane separation greatly declines due to membrane fouling, where pollutants are accumulated on the membrane surface. Among different groups of membranes, ceramic membranes can provide good antifouling properties due to its hydrophilicity and chemical stability. In addition, composite membranes such as graphene oxide modified membranes can help prevent membrane fouling. Recently, hybrid photocatalytic membranes have been proposed as a solution to prevent membrane fouling and provide synergetic effects. Membrane separation can solve the disadvantages of photocatalytic oxidation such as low reutilization rate, while photocatalytic oxidation can help reduce membrane fouling.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.209-217
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• 2022

Ion exchange membrane (IEM) is an important class of membrane applied in batteries, fuel cells, chloride-alkali processes, etc to separate various mono and multivalent ions. The membrane process is based on the electrically driven force, green separation method, which is an emerging area in desalination of seawater and water treatment. Electrodialysis (ED) is a technique in which cations and anions move selectively along the IEM. Anion exchange membrane (AEM) is one of the important components of the ED process which is critical to enhancing the process efficiency. The introduction of cross-linking in the IEM improves the ion-selective separation performance due to the reduction of free volume. During the desalination of seawater by reverse osmosis (RO) process, there is a lot of dissolved salt present in the concentrate of RO. So, the ED process consisting of a monovalent cation-selective membrane reduces fouling and improves membrane flux. This review is divided into three sections such as electrodialysis (ED), anion exchange membrane (AEM), and cation exchange membrane (CEM).

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.149-157
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• 2020

Ionic Liquid (IL) in the category of low-temperature molten salts with organic cation and organic/inorganic anion has shown great potentiality in CO₂ gas separation. CO₂ gas separation from flue gas by IL based membrane has been widely researched in recent years to overcome climate change and global warming. Membranes based on free standing polyionic liquid (PIL), blend of ionic liquid and composite ionic liquid membranes are discussed in this review. Introducing different IL monomers and tuning microstructure of PIL membrane and composite of PIL-IL to enhance mechanical properties of membranes with good CO₂ gas permeability and selectivity. Variations in cation and anions of monomer has great impact on the membrane gas separation performance.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.330-337
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• 2005

Water selective silica membranes were prepared fur use as membrane reactor for synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME) by methanol dehydration. Silica membranes formed on a Porous SUS tube by ultrasonic spray Pyrolysis (USP) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as precursor. The CVD-derived membranes formed higher level of trade-off line between water permeance and water/methanol selectivity than that of the USP-derived membranes. The membrane reactor possessing water permeance of $1.2\times10^{-7}\;mol\;{\cdot}\;m^{-2}\;{\cdot}\;S^{-1}\;{\cdot}\;Pa^{-1}$ and water/methanol selectivity of 10 exhibited increase in methanol conversion of about $20\%$ comparing to conventional reactor system. These findings led us to conclude that the dehydration membrane reactor simultaneously separating the water vapour produced in the reaction zone was effective in increasing the reaction conversion.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.163-174
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• 2000

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.91-94
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• 2003