Vacuum Membrane Distillation (VMD) was applied in two production lines of the coffee industry: the concentration of the coffee extract and the dehydration and recovery of caffeine.

Experiments were carried out by using a commercial flat microporous membrane made of polypropylene (0.2 μm pore size). Both systems worked with a vacuum value of 4 mbar, while the temperature was fixed at 45 °C and at 27 °C for the caffeine recovery and the coffee extract concentration, respectively. Starting from an extract of 13 wt%, it was possible to concentrate it up to the values needed for the instantaneous/soluble coffee production, while dry caffeine was recovered from a 0.1–0.3 wt% aqueous feed. In both case studies, a pure distillate stream, able to be re-used in the plant, was obtained.

真空膜蒸馏（VMD）应用于咖啡行业的两条生产线：咖啡提取物的浓缩和咖啡因的脱水回收。

实验使用由聚丙烯制成的商用扁平微孔膜（孔径为0.2μm）进行。两个系统均在 4 mbar 的真空值下工作，而咖啡因回收和咖啡提取物浓缩的温度分别固定在 45 °C 和 27 °C。从 13 wt% 的提取物开始，可以将其浓缩至速溶/速溶咖啡生产所需的值，同时从 0.1–0.3 wt% 的水性进料中回收干咖啡因。在这两个案例研究中，都获得了能够在工厂中重复使用的纯馏分流。