title: In-Line Measurement of Water Contents in Ethanol Using a Zeolite-Coated Quartz Crystal Microbalance.
abstract: A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was utilized to measure the water content in ethanol. For the improvement of measurement sensitivity, the QCM was modified by applying zeolite particles on the surface with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) binder. The measurement performance was examined with ethanol of 1% to 5% water content in circulation. The experimental results showed that the frequency drop of the QCM was related with the water content though there was some deviation. The sensitivity of the zeolite-coated QCM was sufficient to be implemented in water content determination, and a higher ratio of silicon to aluminum in the molecular structure of the zeolite gave better performance. The coated surface was inspected by microscopy to show the distribution of zeolite particles and PMMA spread.
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering, Kyungnam College of Information & Technology, Pusan 617-701, Korea. kimbc@eagle.kit.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Byoung Chul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Hyogo, Himeji 671-2201, Japan. tyamamot@eng.u-hyogo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takuji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Dong-A University, Pusan 604-714, Korea. yhkim@mail.donga.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Young Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: ethanol dehydration; quartz crystal microbalance; zeolite-coated sensor