Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages of PV technology.

Adapted from Figoli et al. (2015), Hoof et al. (2004)

Advantages	Disadvantages
Less energy consumption compared to traditional distillation	High investment costs (e.g. membranes, devices, installations)
Minimal possibility of product contamination	Operating temperature range 50–100 °C
High separation efficiency for purification	Components with high boiling points make pervaporation more difficult
Non-use of additional solvents/phases	Removes the minor component
Competitive for removal of volatile organic compounds with carbon adsorption	Needs pure phases (i.e. solvents) to avoid membrane fouling/pollution
Ability to be coupled with other processes (e.g. distillation)	Low permeation rates at low temperatures
Multi-component mixtures even with just small differences in boiling points can be effectively dehydrated	Scarce membrane market
PV systems are easy to operate