Polymeric Gas-Separation Membranes for Petroleum Refining

Table 12

Comparison with different technologies for VOCs removal [27, 159, 160].

Technology	VOC content	Efficiency (%)	Temperature (°C)	Remarks
Thermal oxidation	20 ppm–20% LEL	95–99	371	(i) Energy recovery up to 85%.; (ii) Chlorinated compounds can form toxic gases.
Catalytic oxidation	100–1000	90–98	149	(i) Energy recovery up to 70%.; (ii) Efficiency is dependent on operating conditions.; (iii) Certain impurities can poison the catalyst.
Activated carbon	700–10,000	80–90	<54	(i) Performance is greatly affected by moistures.; (ii) Unstable in ketones, aldehydes, and esters.
Membranes	<20 ppm–25% LEL	90–99	Ambient	(i) Treated gas does not require further processing.