Temperature, recoveries from water

The production of FF involves its recovery from a dilute aqueous solution, so much work has been done on its recovery from water. As Fig. 16.37 shows, its water azeotrope splits into two phases with an improvement in the recovery of FF-rich phase at low temperature. At 25 °C, the FF-rich phase has a density of about 1.14 and the water-rich phase 1.013, so an... 

Tharapiwattananon, N., J. F. Scamehom, S. Osuwan, J. H. Harwell, K. J. Haller, Surfactant recovery from water using foam fractionation, Sep. Sci. Technol., 1996,3/, 1233-1258. Kumpabooth, K., J. F. Scamehom, S. Osuwan, J. H. Harwell, Surfactant recovery from water using foam fractionation effect of temperature and added salt, Sep. Sci. Technol, 1999,34, 157-172. 

Small amounts of propionitrile and bis(cyanoethyl) ether are formed as by-products. The hydrogen ions are formed from water at the anode and pass to the cathode through a membrane. The catholyte that is continuously recirculated in the cell consists of a mixture of acrylonitrile, water, and a tetraalkylammonium salt the anolyte is recirculated aqueous sulfuric acid. A quantity of catholyte is continuously removed for recovery of adiponitrile and unreacted acrylonitrile the latter is fed back to the catholyte with fresh acrylonitrile. Oxygen that is produced at the anodes is vented and water is added to the circulating anolyte to replace the water that is lost through electrolysis. The operating temperature of the cell is ca 50—60°C. Current densities are 0.25-1.5 A/cm (see Electrochemical processing). 

Ammonium lactate [34302-65-3] ia coaceatrated aqueous solutioas has beea coaverted to ammonia and the ester by alcoholysis at temperatures ranging from 100—200°C usiag a variety of alcohols and water entrainers, such as toluene. Ester yields ranging from 50—80% were obtained. This method has also been suggested as a recovery and purification method from impure solutions of lactate (29). However, a considerable amount of the lactate is not converted to the recoverable ester and is lost as lactamide (6). 

Hot-Water Process. The hot-water process is the only successflil commercial process to be appHed to bitumen recovery from mined tar sands in North America as of 1997 (2). The process utilizes linear and nonlinear variations of bitumen density and water density, respectively, with temperature so that the bitumen that is heavier than water at room temperature becomes lighter than water at 80°C. Surface-active materials in tar sand also contribute to the process (2). The essentials of the hot-water process involve conditioning, separation, and scavenging (Fig. 9). 

Cooling towers are commonly used for water cooling, but they can also be used for heat recovery from outlet air. If the water temperature is higher than the dewpoint of the air, water will cool in the tower. Cooling is caused by vaporization on the surface of the water drops. The vaporization energy comes from the inner energy of the water and in a certain phase, when the water temperature is lower than the dry bulb temperature of the air, also from the airflow. When the water temperature drops to near the air wet bulb temperature at the observation point,... 

Oil recovery from underground reservoirs can be improved by injection of water and pressing of oil to the surface. This secondary oil recovery process is relatively cheap though not always successful. Further, however more expensive, methods are the so-called tertiary oil recovery processes whereby the viscosity of the oil is lowered by mixing with low viscous oils or gas, or by temperature increase due to injection of steam, and where the viscosity of the pressing water layer is increased or the surface tension between water and oil is decreased via addition of surfactants. 

Product recovery from reversed micellar solutions can often be attained by simple backextraction, by contacting with an aqueous solution having salt concentration and pH that disfavors protein solubilization, but this is not always a reliable method. Addition of cosolvents such as ethyl acetate or alcohols can lead to a disruption of the micelles and expulsion of the protein species, but this may also lead to protein denaturation. These additives must be removed by distillation, e.g., to enable reconstitution of the micellar phase. Temperature increases can similarly lead to product release as a concentrated aqueous solution. Removal of the water from the reversed micelles by molecular sieves or silica gel has also been found to cause a precipitation of the protein from the organic phase. 

The main advantages of membrane processes are their ability to separate impurities from water for recovery, low operation cost, and a requirement for only a small amount of space for installation. Their limitation lies in the possibility of deterioration of the membranes by certain kinds of water streams, for example, water containing certain strong oxidizing compounds or at high temperatures. 

Dynamically formed membranes were pursued for many years for reverse osmosis because of their high water fluxes and relatively good salt rejection, especially with brackish water feeds. However, the membranes proved to be unstable and difficult to reproduce reliably and consistently. For these reasons, and because high-performance interfacial composite membranes were developed in the meantime, dynamically formed reverse osmosis membranes fell out of favor. A small application niche in high-temperature nanofiltration and ultrafiltration remains, and Rhone Poulenc continues their production. The principal application is poly(vinyl alcohol) recovery from hot wash water produced in textile dyeing operations. 

VOC thermal stability. Separation of VOCs from water by pervaporation generally requires heating the feed water to only 50-70 °C. This is significantly lower than the temperatures involved in distillation or steam stripping, a considerable advantage if the VOCs are valuable, thermally labile compounds. This feature is important in applications such as flavor and aroma recovery in the food industry. 

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