Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Molecular-weight cut-off for membrane separation

Reverse osmosis or nano-filtration membranes with differing pore sizes are often selected to separate phenolic compounds and sugar degraded by-products in the hydrolyzates. Usually, the pore size of a membrane is given by the molecular-weight cut-off instead of pore diameter. The molecular weight of the typical chemical compounds in the liquors under studies is shown below:

Compounds MW
Hexoses 180.2
Pentoses: 150.1
Acetic acid 60.1
Furfural 96.1
HMF 110.1

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