Process for treating a lipophilic fluid in the form of a siloxane emulsion

A process for purifying a lipophilic fluid and a lipophilic fluid vapor, said process comprising the steps of:

• a. collecting said lipophilic fluid vapor and a first emulsion comprising water and said lipophilic fluid;
• b. condensing said lipophilic fluid vapor to form condensed lipophilic fluid vapor;
• c. combining said condensed lipophilic fluid vapor and said first emulsion to form a second emulsion;
• d. pretreating said second emulsion;
• e. recovering said lipophilic fluid and said condensed lipophilic fluid vapor from said second emulsion;
• and
• f. purifying said lipophilic fluid and said condensed lipophilic fluid vapor by a membrane filtration method comprising a polyvinylidene fluoride membrane, a polysulfone hollw fiber membrane or a silanized cellulose membrane;
• wherein said lipophilic fluid comprises a linear siloxane, a cyclic siloxane, or mixture thereof.