Hollow fiber membrane contactors for CO2 capture: From lab-scale screening to pilot-plant module conception

Abstract

Post combustion Carbon Capture and Storage technology (CCS) is viewed as an efficient solution to reduce CO2 emissions of coal-fired power stations. In CCS, an aqueous amine solution can be used as a chemical solvent to selectively remove CO2 from the gas stream. The gas/liquid contact is performed within an absorption tower consisting of a packed column over which the absorption liquid and gas are flowing counter currently. The large active area required for CO2 mass transfer efficiency from the gas into the liquid induces the use of large absorption tower, which drastically increases the cost of the process. An alternative technology to packed column is using hollow fibers membrane contactors (HFMC) as they offer attractive potentialities for intensified gas absorption processes. This holds especially for post combustion CO2 capture application, for which a significant decrease of the size of the absorber or stripper unit could be of great interest. The aim of this work is to identify a suitable membrane material through lab-scale measurements to design a pilot-scale hollow fiber membrane contactor module.