A Review on the Separation of Volatile Organic Compounds from Wastewater by Pervaporation Processes

The pervaporation process (PV) is one of the membrane separation methods.This process is characterized by low cost, ease of installation, no chemicalsadded, and work at medium temperatures. The pervaporation process is part of achain of water treatment processes and has high efficiency in removingpollutants, drying processes, and others. The present review paper would bereviewed the related articles to show the efficiency of the separation of thesolution by the pervaporation process by focusing on research that deals with theseparation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water such as benzeneand toluene. Benzene compound was used to prepare some of the chemicals suchas styrene, phenol, cyclohexane, aniline, and polyester resins. Also, it is used inthe production of drugs, dyes, insecticides, and plastics, moreover, it is producedfrom the refineries' operations and mixes with the water used in these operations,where its concentration reaches up to 16 ppm. While toluene is a commonsolvent used for paints, glues, and printing ink. Toluene compound is producedfrom the refineries operations and mixes with the water used in these operations,where its concentration reaches up to 55 ppm, where these percentages forbenzene and toluene are considered high and very dangerous to humans and theenvironment which causes many carcinogenic diseases. Also, researchers wouldbe reviewing that worked on developing various types of membranes by addingdifferent materials to improve membrane performance and increase the desiredflux of components and separation factors with different working conditions.