This article presents a experimental study on the removal of hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) from high salinity wastewater by emulsion liquid membrane (ELM). The ELM contains diethanolamine (DEA) as carrier, kerosene as solvent and span 80 as surfactant. The fundamental parameters (viz. surfactant concentration, carrier concentration, strip phase concentration, phase ratio, agitation speed and time) affecting the removal of H 2 S were investigated to select the optimum combination of process parameters. The results showed the optimal governing parameters were: inner phase NaOH aqueous solution 2.0 wt%, Surfactant (span 80) 5.0 vol%, carrier (DEA) 6.0 vol%, treat ratio 1:5, agitation speed 250 rpm, agitation time 15 min, respectively, and removal efficiency of 97.3% was achieved.