Separation Science and Technology, Vol.34, No.6-7, 1393-1409, 1999
Distillation under electric fields
Distillation is the most common separation process used in the chemical and petroleum industry. Major limitations in the applicability and efficiency of distillation came from thermodynamic equilibria, that is, vapor-liquid equilibria (VLE), and heat and mass transfer rates. In this work, electric fields are used to manipulate the VLE of mixtures. VLE experiments are performed for various binary mixtures in the presence of electric fields on the order of a few kilovolts per centimeter. The results show that the VLE of some binary mixtures is changed by electric fields, with changes in the separation factor as high as 10% being observed. Batch distillation experiments are also carried out fbr binary mixtures of 2-propanol and water with and without an applied electric field. Results show enhanced distillation rates and separation efficiency in the presence of an electric field but decreased separation enhancement when the electric current is increased. The latter phenomenon is caused by the formation at the surface of the liquid mixture of microdroplets that are entrained by the vapor. These observations suggest that there should be an electric field strength for each system for which the separation enhancement is maximum.