In the present work, the potential of purifying an oily wastewater from a lubricant production unit., consisting mainly of alcohols. phenols and heavy linear saturated hydrocarbons, using the stripping process was examined. The effect of stripping gas flow (75-300 LN2 L-WW(-1) h(-1)) and system temperature (295-355 K) on the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the effluent was Investigated. A decrease in COD content of 25-30 % was achieved after 4 h for stripping gas flow rates over 150 L-N2 L-WW(-1) h(-1), whereas the rate of organic compounds removal was enhanced by increasing temperature up to 333 K. At higher temperatures an effluent condensation was observed. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of both liquid and gas phase showed that linear saturated hydrocarbons of high molecular weight were stripped out from the wastewater. The results are in agreement with the equilibrium ratio of these compounds as predicted from by theoretical calculations. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.