The opportunity of integrating pervaporation within the concept of waste water treatment to recover organic compounds has been widely recognized. Within this paper a process simulation is developed as a design tool to analyse and optimize the process of hydrophobic pervaporation. In the simulation the mass transfer through the membrane and concentration boundary layer are described using a resistance-in-series model. Furthermore, the permeate pressure gradient and the heat balance are integrated in a finite elements-in-succession method to simulate the overall process. The influence of different process and design parameters on the performance, such as permeate pressure, feed temperature, flow pattern on pervaporation are analysed for the recovery process of low concentrations of model substances, pyridine and phenol, from waste water. Based on the results, guidelines for the process design of hydrophobic pervaporation are given.