BENCHMARKING PERVAPORATION MEMBRANES FOR FUEL DESULFURIZATION: A FLUX–ENRICHMENT FACTOR TRADE-OFF ANALYSIS

Abstract

Due to increased stringent emission regulations and the declining availability of low-sulfur crude oil have created an urgent need for advanced fuel desulfurization technologies. Among emerging approaches, pervaporation (PV) using membrane separation at mild operating conditions has gained recognition as a promising alternative to conventional methods. However, wide variations in reported operating parameters and testing conditions make direct comparison of membrane performance challenging. In this study, pervaporative desulfurization data from four published works (covering 10 membrane configurations) were systematically normalized and evaluated using design maps and Pareto-front analysis. To ensure fair comparison, two standardized operating windows were defined: (A) thiophene/n-octane at 30 ± 5 °C and (B) thiophene/n-heptane at 60 ± 5 °C, both at sulfur concentrations of 400–600 ppm. Membrane performance was assessed by jointly considering total flux and enrichment factor (EF), enabling identification of non-dominated configurations. In Window A, PDMS/MIL-101(Cr) (6 wt%) exhibited the most favorable flux–selectivity balance, achieving approximately 5.2 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ flux and an EF of ~5.6. A simplified stage-cut mass balance further linked EF to practical sulfur reduction in the retentate. Despite the limited dataset, the proposed framework provides a transparent, reproducible benchmarking methodology to support rational membrane selection and design for fuel desulfurization.