Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of a Membrane Contactor for CO₂ Separation: Two Types of Membrane Evaluation

Abstract

Two different types of hollow‐fiber membrane contactors were used for CO2 separation from the gas stream with monoethanolamine (MEA) absorbent and numerically investigated. After the model validation with experimental data, CO2 removal efficiency, MEA concentration, and pressure drop variation were examined under different conditions by variation of some effective parameters such as gas stream velocity, absorption solution velocity, membrane porosity, and membrane tortuosity. Membrane tortuosity and porosity enhancement led to light decrease and light increase in CO2 removal efficiency, respectively, but gas stream velocity enhancement significantly reduced the CO2 removal efficiency.

A Comprehensive Parametric Study on CO2 Removal from Natural Gas by Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactor: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach

“…In various applications, HFMC systems increase separation efficiency because of their functional physical structure, simple gas and fluid flow rate control, and high surface contact area per unit area [18,19]. Due to the good performance of HFMCs in separating CO 2 from various gas and liquid samples, much research has been done in this field in recent years [20]. For example, Nguyen et al used enzymatic CO 2 capture in membrane contactors as a different approach in the category of CO 2 separation by HFMC and acknowledged that it is a green, energy-efficient, nontoxic, and low-cost technology that has promise for industrial applications [21].…”

“…Zhao et al used a polyetheretherketone HFM for capturing CO 2 from flue gas, and they discovered that the CO 2 absorption flux of FAS-PDMS-0.6 HFM was raised by 50.9 % compared with the original membrane [22]. This method is also practical for capturing CO 2 from liquid flows, and as an example of the separation of CO 2 from liquids, CO 2 capture from seawater is noteworthy [20].…”

Comparing Darcy’s Law and the Brinkman Equation for Numerical Simulations of Saltwater Intrusion

“…The mass transfer theory for porous media is also fundamental to analysing saltwater intrusion problems. Approaches employed in this field include analytical methods [33,34], the boundary element method (BEM) [35], and the FEM [36,37]. The FEM cannot reach the accuracy of analytical solutions or the BEM, but it offers the widest application.…”

“…The FEM cannot reach the accuracy of analytical solutions or the BEM, but it offers the widest application. COMSOL Multiphysics [38] is one of the finite-element modelling packages that is widely utilized for solving various partial differential equations in engineering fields [21,36,37]. It features high flexibility in combining different physics as required in complex problems like saltwater intrusion.…”