Separation of MTBE/MEOH Mixture Using E.G Adsorbent

In this work, feasibility of using a non polar adsorbent known as exfoliated graphite (EG) for the separation of polar/non-polar mixture of MTBE/MEOH has been studied. In the case of removal of methanol from MTBE, four main effecting parameters were recognized to study their effect on the adsorption capability of EG. Two parameters of high temperature of thermal treatment and nitric acid/sulfuric acid ratio were related to the synthesis process of adsorbent, whereas MTBE/MEOH ratio in the solution and adsorbent to the solution ratio were other factors related to adsorption stage. To decrease the number of required experiments and determining the contribution of each factor, the Taguchi method was used for design of the experiments. By application of L16 orthogonal array, optimum condition for eliminating MTBE was predicted. According to the obtained results, EG was able to eliminate MTBE from MEOH effectively and at optimum condition, the removal percentage of MTBE was 80.