MEMBRANE-BASED HYBRID PROCESS FOR SEPARATION OF MIXTURES OF ORGANICS, SOLIDS, AND WATER

摘要

A system and process that are a hybrid of distillation and membrane separations offers a highly efficient means of separating a fluid feed mixture into organic, solid, and aqueous components. The distillation section is followed by two membrane separation sections operated in parallel, with the distillation section separating the feed mixture into an organics-rich fraction and an organics-depleted and solids-rich fraction. One membrane section operates on the organics-rich fraction and separates it into a more organics-rich sub-fraction and a water-rich, organics-depleted sub-fraction, while the other membrane section operates on the organics-depleted, solids-rich fraction from the distillation section and separates it into a solids-rich sub-fraction and a solids-depleted, water-rich sub-fraction.