Introduction“Pervaporation is a process in which a liquid stream containing two or more components is brought into contact with one side of a non-porous polymer membrane, while a vacuum or gas purge applied to the other side. Components in the liquid stream are absorbed into the membrane, permeate through the membrane, and evaporate into the vapor phase” (Freeman 6.59). The term pervaporation derives “from the two main operations involved in the separation process, namely permeation and evaporation” (Peng Ming 815-820). Pervaporation has become more commonplace in recent years regarding environmental concerns; this is mainly due to its effectiveness in removing volatile organic compounds from large quantities of water. Conventionally, air stripping or activated carbon is used in these situations, but pervaporation has some advantages over these methods. “Air stripping is susceptible to fouling and simply turns a water pollution problem into an air pollution problem, and activated carbon treatment involves expensive regeneration steps and may not be suitable for VOCs that are easily replaced by other organic compounds” (Freeman 6.59). There are also a number of other benefits to pervaporation. The process creates no fugitive emissions, so no air pollution is created. On the permeate side of the membrane volatile organic compounds are continuously removed, so there are no regeneration costs. Furthermore, the process uses compact systems and there is the possibility to recycle or reuse the recovered volatile organic compounds. The theory behind pervaporation can be explained through mathematical equations and some experimental parameters. Theory Membrane performance is evaluated by the experimental permeate parameters...... middle of paper ...... used to satisfy NPDES limitations. There are few limitations to the use of pervaporation technology. First, the pre-filter needs to be cleaned frequently to prevent solids from clogging it. Secondly, it is necessary to add anti-scalers with high alkalinity influent flows. Finally, “highly soluble organic substances, such as alcohols, are not effectively removed by a single-stage pervaporation process” (Zenon Environmental, Inc. 4). Even with some limitations, pervaporation has proven to be an effective technology. Pervaporation removes volatile organic compounds to near maximum contaminant levels. The pervaporation modules produce satisfactory results with minimal personnel in a compact design. With spiral, hollow fiber and plate and frame modules there is good flexibility in the technology for treating various pollutants at various concentrations.