CO2 Separation by Using a Three-stage Membrane Process

Bingcheng Liu,Mengmeng Zhang,Ting Wang,Pen-Chi Chiang,Xuan Yang

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2019.10.0519

Bingcheng Liu, Mengmeng Zhang + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2019.10.0519

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Abstract

ABSTRACT In this work, a three-stage membrane process for CO2 separation was proposed and optimized. The results of this study revealed that the proposed technology is a suitable process for the CO2 separation at higher concentrations. In addition, MATLAB was used to simulate and obtain the optimal operational parameters for a three-stage membrane process. A partial cycle was established, and the CO2 was recovered from the permeation side of the second-stage membrane, which enhanced the purity of the CO2 gas stream. The results of this study indicated that when the CO2 concentration was higher than 50% at a flow rate of 100000 Nm3 d–1, CO2 separation could be achieved under optimal operating conditions. Under conditions where the membrane areas were 2400, 3800, and 1800 m2 for the first-, second-, and third-stage membranes, respectively, and where the operational pressure at the first- and third stage membranes were 3.0 and 2.5 MPa, respectively, the CO2 separation fraction was higher than 90%, and the CH4 loss rate was less than 5%. The results of this study indicate a high potential for practical application.

Highlights

As the pace of oil exploitation was accelerated due to the importance of oil, more and more oilfields have the characteristics of lower permeability because of mining and geological reasons
The results of this study indicated that when the CO2 concentration was higher than 50% and at a flow rate of 100000 Nm3 d–1, the CO2 separation could be achieved at the optimal operation condition
Under the conditions that the membrane areas were 2400, 3800, and 1800 m2 for the first, second, and third-stage membrane, respectively and the operational pressure at first- and third stage membrane were 3.0 and 2.5 MPa, respectively, the CO2 separation fraction was higher than 90% and CH4 loss rate was lower than 5%

Summary

Introduction

As the pace of oil exploitation was accelerated due to the importance of oil, more and more oilfields have the characteristics of lower permeability because of mining and geological reasons. CO2-EOR flooding will lead to a large number of CO2 (about 40 to 60% of the injected gas) spilling out of the ground along with the gas produced during oil recovery (hereinafter referred to as the extraction gas). The CO2 concentration in extraction gas fields in Malaysia ranges from 28% to 87% (Tan et al, 2012b; Jean et al, 2016; Xie et al, 2017; Yang et al, 2019). (Tan et al, 2012a; Li et al, 2016) This method, gradually reveals a number of drawbacks of large volume occupancy and some operational problems such as flooding, channeling, entrainment and foaming (Ghasem et al, 2012a). Chemical absorption technology is usually used to process extraction gas within a relatively narrow range in feed (Fu et al, 2012). Due to the high energy consumption of this technology, which accounts for about 50% of the total energy, this technology has not been widely used in CO2 capture from extraction gas (Ebrahimzadeh et al, 2016)

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Results

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