Influences of Permeate Pressure and Feed Flow Rate on Benzene Removal from Gasoline by Pervaporation

In this work, the effects of permeate pressure and feed flow rate on the performance of a composite polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membrane in the removal of benzene from gasoline by pervaporation (PV) were evaluated. The results indicate the remarkable effect of permeate pressure on membrane performance as reducing permeate pressure (higher vacuum) from 30 to 3 mmHg causes the total flux to increase from 6.6 to 51.7 g/hrm2 and from 12.2 to 79 g/hrm2 at 25 and 35 °C respectively. Furthermore, increasing feed flow rate enhances total flux and diminishes the amount of benzene in retentate (product) only below 1000 ml/min and has a negligible effect at higher flow rates.