Porous polyethersulfone hollow fiber membrane in gas–liquid contacting processes

Abstract

Porous polyethersulfone hollow fiber membranes were fabricated via dry–wet phase inversion method with the polymer concentration in the spinning dope either 13wt% or 15wt%. The fabricated hollow fiber membranes were characterized by different test methods and the performance of membranes in contactor applications was tested by CO2 absorption. The mean pore size, effective surface porosity and membrane porosity decreased while the membrane density and Liquid Entry Pressure (LEPw) increased as polymer concentration increased. The CO2 absorption flux of the fabricated membranes was measured in two cases; i.e. when the absorbent, distilled water, was in the lumen side or in the shell side. The CO2 flux for the membrane, fabricated from 13wt% PES solution, was compared with some commercial and in-house made membranes. The former membrane had 111% higher flux than a commercial PTFE membrane.