In the separation of toluene/n-heptane mixture by the emulsion type liquid membrane in an batch system, the effect of surfactant on the separation factor and membrane stability was studied over the surfactant concentration ranging form 0.1 to 1.5wt% at the contact time of 5 and 10 minutes. and the settling time of 5 and 10 minutes. The surfactant used was sodium lauryl sulfate. The separation factor reached its maximum value at the surfactant concentration of 0.5wt% for surfantant. It was found that the percentage of membrane breakup reached its minimum values and the separation factor showed its maximum value at the surfactant concentration of 0.5wt%. which confirmed that efficient separation could be effect when emulsion liquid membrane was stable because of low membrane breakup.