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 chemicals added, and work at medium temperatures. The pervaporation process is part of a chain of water treatment processes and has high efficiency in removing pollutants, drying processes, and others. The present review paper would be reviewed the related articles to show the efficiency of the separation of the solution by the pervaporation process by focusing on research that deals with the separation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water such as benzene and toluene. Benzene compound was used to prepare some of the chemicals such as styrene, phenol, cyclohexane, aniline, and polyester resins. Also, it is used in the production of drugs, dyes, insecticides, and plastics, moreover, it is produced from the refineries' operations and mixes with the water used in these operations, where its concentration reaches up to 16 ppm. While toluene is a common solvent used for paints, glues, and printing ink. Toluene compound is produced from the refineries operations and mixes with the water used in these operations, where its concentration reaches up to 55 ppm, where these percentages for benzene and toluene are considered high and very dangerous to humans and the environment which causes many carcinogenic diseases. Also, researchers would be reviewing that worked on developing various types of membranes by adding different materials to improve membrane performance and increase the desired flux of components and separation factors with different working conditions.