Published : 2022-08-30

Concentration of aqueous solutions of caprolaclam by membrane distillation

Abstract

The process of concentration of waste aqueous solutions of e-caprolactam (generated during nylon-6 production) by multistage membrane distillation (MD) was described. The own MD experimental set (Fig. 1) has been used. During the MD process the time dependence (up to approximately 50 h) of change of the permeate flux obtained, dependently on the feed concentration expressed as total organic carbon (OWO) content, was determined. The values of electrical conductivity and pH of distillate (Fig. 6 and 7) as well as OWO content in the feed and distillate (Fig. 5) were determined the same time. The high degree of organic compounds' separation was achieved (more than 99.9 %). The distillate obtained was nearly pure water containing barely 220 mg/dm3 of organic carbon and 60 mg/dm3 of nitrogen. That distillate was successfully used for polyamide extraction, after its polymerization. The observed in MD process the phenomenon of decrease in membranes' permeability was attributed to membrane pores' wetting as well as to settling of the deposits on the surface (investigations by SEM method, Fig. 2 and 4). It was found that hot water effectively leaches the deposit, consisted of oligomers formed as by-products during e-caprolactam polymerization.


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Gryta, M. (2022). Concentration of aqueous solutions of caprolaclam by membrane distillation. Polimery, 51(9), 665–670. Retrieved from https://ichp.vot.pl/index.php/p/article/view/1568