Separation of Sunflower Oil from Hexane by Use of Composite Polymeric Membranes

Article

Authorship

Pagliero, Cecilia Liliana ; OCHOA, NELIO ARIEL ; Martino, P. ; Marchese, Jose

Date

2011

Publishing House and Editing Place

Springer

Magazine

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS SOCIETY (JAOCS), vol. 88 (pp. 1813-1819) Springer

Summary Information provided by the agent in SIGEVA

Vegetable oil extraction, as performed today by the oilseed-crushing industry, usually involves solvent extraction with commercial hexane. After this step, the vegetable oil–hexane mixture (miscella) must be treated to separate its components by distillation. If solvent-resistant membranes with good permeation properties can be obtained, membrane separation may replace, or be used in combination with, conventional evaporation. Two tailor-made flat composite membranes, poly(vinylidene fluo... Vegetable oil extraction, as performed today by the oilseed-crushing industry, usually involves solvent extraction with commercial hexane. After this step, the vegetable oil–hexane mixture (miscella) must be treated to separate its components by distillation. If solvent-resistant membranes with good permeation properties can be obtained, membrane separation may replace, or be used in combination with, conventional evaporation. Two tailor-made flat composite membranes, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF–Si and PVDF–CA) and a commercially available composite membrane (MPF-50), were used to separate a crude sunflower oil–hexane mixture. The effects of temperature, cross-flow velocity (v), transmembrane pressure (?p), and feed oil concentration (Cf) on membrane selectivity and permeation flux were determined. The PVDF–Si membrane achieved the best results, being stable in commercial hexane and having promising permselectivity properties for separation of vegetable oil–hexane miscella. Improved separation performance was obtained at Cf = 25%, ?p = 7.8 bar, T = 30 °C, and v = 0.8 m s?1; a limiting permeate flux of 12 Lm?2 h?1 and 46.2% oil retention were achieved. Low membrane fouling was observed under all the experimental conditions studied.