Scale-up of pervaporation for gasoline desulphurization: Part 1. Simulation and design

The significance and possibility of using pervaporation (PV) for deep desulphurization of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) gasoline have been widely recognized. The aim of this study was to build a bridge between experimental studies and potential applications of pervaporation for gasoline desulphurization on a pilot scale. Process simulation model was developed. By applying the simulation, the influence of interstage heating manner and process parameters, e.g., feed temperature, permeate pressure, feed sulfur content level and retentate sulfur content level on the required membrane area and retentate rate was investigated. Based on the simulation results as well as discussions on considerable base data, scale-up plant was designed and established. It has been demonstrated that process simulation can play an important role in optimizing pervaporation during the scale-up of gasoline desulphurization technology.