Pervaporative desulfurization of gasoline: A review

Abstract The membrane based pervaporation process for sulfur removal from gasoline has evoked a great deal of attention due to its distinct advantages. Such advantages include: lower operating and energy costs, easier scale-up, as well as higher selectivity. The separation mechanism of pervaporative desulfurization is based on the sorption and diffusion differences between the components of the gasoline mixture. This review aims to provide insight into the state of the art research activities related to pervaporative desulfurization of gasoline using organic polymeric membranes. To obtain a comprehensive perspective about the pervaporative desulfurization, other techniques of desulfurization are discussed briefly in the introduction. The solubility parameter theory for membranes selection and the membranes material modifications are also examined in this review. The effects of various factors including feed sulfur content, operating temperature, permeate pressure and feed flow rate on desulfurization performance are discussed.