CO2 chemical absorption by using membrane vacuum regeneration technology

Abstract

Abstract The novel regeneration process by using membrane vacuum technology was put forward to reduce the regeneration energy consumption in the chemical absorption process for CO2 separation from flue gas. The rich MEA solution was flowed in the lumen of the hydrophobic PP hollow fiber membrane contactors, and the shell side was maintained at a reduced pressure by a vacuum pump. In addition, the additional low temperature steam whose temperature is the same to rich MEA solution was also provided to act as the sweep gas to improve the regeneration performance and to prevent the water loss of the lean solution. Results showed that this membrane vacuum regeneration process can regenerate rich MEA solution to reach a relatively better regeneration performance and can effectively utilize the low temperature energy or waste heat in the power plants.