Flue gas carbon capture using hollow fiber membrane diffuser-separator

Abstract

In this work, CO2 removal from flue gas using membrane diffuser–separator was investigated. Hollow fiber polypropylene membrane was used as the diffuser while pure water was used as the absorbent. Separation performance of the membrane diffuser–separator as a function of CO2 concentration (6-28%-vol.) and flow rate (gas: 0.8-1.55 L.min-1 and liquid: 0.2-0.7 L.min-1) was investigated and optimized. It was found that CO2 removal was significantly affected by CO2 concentration in the feed gas. On the other hand, CO2 flux was more influenced by flow rates of liquid and gas rather than concentration. The optimized CO2 removal (64%) and flux (1 x 10-4 mol.m-2.s-1) were obtained at the highest gas flow rate (1.55 L.min-1), the lowest liquid flow rate (0.2 L.min-1), and 6.2%-vol. of CO2 concentration. Outlet gas of the membrane diffuser system tends to carry some water vapor, which is affected by gas and liquid flow rate. Meanwhile, in the steady-state operation of the separator, the gas bubbles generated by the membrane diffuser take a long time to be completely degassed from the liquid phase, thus a portion of gas stream was exiting separator through liquid outlet.