Abstract: Studies on pervaporation separation of alcohol/water mixture and pervaporation-aided catalytic esterification reaction have been carried out using a laboratory reactor equipped with a hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol membrane. It was found that the flux and the separation factor of the membrane varied with the composition and temperature of the alcohol/water mixture and the thickness of the membrane. On the other hand, the rate and conversion of the esterification reactions increased as the flux and the A/V ratio of the membrane were increased. The conversion of the pervaporation-aided esterification of acetic acid by ethanol approached 96—99% in our reaction device, and the time required to attain 95% conversion t_(95) reduced by half as compared with that of the blank reaction. For the pervaporation-aided esterification of salicylic acid by methanol, the reaction conversion increased by 1.5 times as well.

Key words: Polyvinyl alcohol pervaporation membrane, Pervaporation aided catalytic esterification, Esterification of acetic acid by ethanol, Esterification of salicylic acid by methanol