Introduction“Pervaporation is a process in which a liquid stream containing two or more components is placed in contact with one side of a non-porous polymer membrane, while A vacuum or gas purge is applied to the other side. Components of the liquid stream are absorbed into the membrane, penetrate through the membrane, and evaporate into the vapor phase” (Freeman 6.59). The term pervaporation is derived “from the two major operations involved in the separation process, namely permeation and evaporation” (Peng Ming 815-820). Pervaporation has become more common in recent years due to environmental concerns; this is primarily due to its effectiveness in removing volatile organic compounds from large quantities of water. Typically, air stripping or activated carbon are 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 costly regeneration steps and may not suitable for VOCs that are easily displaced by other organic compounds” (Freeman 6.59). Pervaporation also has a number of other benefits. The process creates no fugitive emissions, so no air pollution is created. On the permeate side of the membrane, volatile organic compounds are continually removed, so there are no regeneration costs. In addition, the process uses compact systems and it is possible to recycle or reuse the recovered volatile organic compounds. The theory behind pervaporation can be explained through mathematical equations and certain experimental parameters. TheoryThe performance of the membrane is evaluated by the experimental parameters of the permea...... middle of paper ......fr used to meet the limitations of NPDES. There are few limitations to the use of pervaporation technology. First, the pre-filter should be cleaned frequently to prevent solids from clogging it. Second, antiscalants should be added with high alkalinity influent streams. Finally, “highly soluble organic materials, such as alcohols, are not effectively removed by a single-step pervaporation process” (Zenon Environmental, Inc. 4). Even with certain limitations, pervaporation has proven to be an effective technology. Pervaporation removes volatile organic compounds to near maximum contaminant levels. Pervaporation modules produce satisfactory results with minimal personnel in a compact design. With spiral wound, hollow fiber, and plate and frame modules, the technology provides great flexibility to treat various pollutants at different concentrations..