Esterification reactions show a limited conversion due to the presence of water, which favors the opposite reaction. The removal of water from the reaction mixture increases the production of the ester. Pervaporation is an effective dehydration technique, usually applied to binary mixtures. The effect on pervaporation of a reactive multicomponent system involving water, ethanol, ethyl lactate and lactic acid with high acid concentration (13.5 wt. %) at relatively low temperatures (40-80 °C) was studied. Three hydrophilic membranes mainly fabricated for dehydration purposes from Sulzer Chemtech were used, i.e., PERVAP™ 3100, PERVAP™ 2216 and PERVAP™ 1131. The last one revealed as the most suitable for the application and it was further characterized with binary and ternary solutions. The membrane showed high affinity for the lactic acid. The acid permeation played a key role in the water/ethanol and water/ethyl lactate selectivity. Lactic acid permeates and crystalizes in the permeate side of the membrane at very low water concentration (below 2 wt. %), causing a drop in flux and membrane selectivity. Ethyl lactate is responsible of the loss of integrity of the membranes.
Keywords: hydrophilic membrane; pervaporation; temperature.