Simulation for CO2 capture using tubular dual-phase membrane module

Abstract

Dual-phase membrane is a newly developed membrane that is capable of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from flue gas at high temperature up to 823 K. To date, the researches on CO2 capture using dual-phase membrane are performed experimentally. However, the gas separation performance of the scale-up tubular dual-phase membrane module is scarcely studied. Therefore, the potential application of the dual-phase membrane module remains as a challenge. The design of membrane module and its implementation in actual operating conditions can be analyzed beforehand by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. In this paper, the hydrodynamic profile of the gas flowing inside a tubular dual-phase membrane module was studied to investigate its potential for industrial application. CFD simulation of gas mixture consisting of CO2 and nitrogen (N2) that flowing through the membrane module was performed at 823 K. Among the parameters investigated are the absolute pressure, concentration of CO2 and gas velocity within the tubular membrane module. The inlet mass flow rate was set at 0.00448 kg s−1 and the total volume of the membrane module was 0.031 m3. Based on the simulation, 0.09 bar of pressure drop was observed when the feed gas stream passed across the membrane zone to the outlet zone. There was about 86 % of CO2 recovery with the CO2 concentration decreased from 20 mol % to 3.3 mol %. Besides, the membrane stage cut was around 0.17 with 83 % of the gas leaving the membrane module at the retentate side. The simulation results give reliable statement over the separation efficiency of CO2 and flow pattern in membrane module. The scale-up performance of single membrane module has been predicted through the simulation based on the experimental data.