Temperature and pressure dependence of the CO2 absorption through a ceramic hollow fiber membrane contactor module

Abstract

Temperature and pressure dependence of the CO2 absorption through a ceramic hollow fiber membrane contactor (CHFMC) modules were extensively evaluated and optimized. Results are presented for a CHFMC module consisting of 200 ceramic fibers in a single compact unit. The effect of gas temperatures and liquid absorbent temperatures was studied by altering the CO2 gas (N-2 balance) and monoethanolamine (MEA) absorbent temperatures (20 - 50 degrees C). CO2 removal efficiency (%) was also evaluated as a function of CO2 gas composition (1.5-13 %, N-2 balance). The CO2 removal efficiency (%) slightly increases when the temperature of the injected gas temperature increases from 20 degrees C to 40 degrees C, and then decreases as the temperature further increases from 40 degrees C to 50 degrees C. The MEA absorbent temperatures did not have a notable effect on the CHFMC module performance in the specific temperature range studied in this work. The effects of the liquid pressure drop do not appear to be significant for a given gas flow rate, but the gas pressure drop increases with gas flow rate and gas temperature. The findings in this study show that a CHFMC process is affected by the CO2 gas temperature and composition but quite independent of the MEA absorbent temperature.