Computational fluid dynamics simulations of membrane gas separation: Overview, challenges and future perspectives

Foo, K.; Liang, Yanyan; Goh, Pei Sean; Fletcher, David F.

doi:10.1016/j.cherd.2023.01.024

Cited by 19 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…However, semi-permeable wall conditions are generally complex to implement in commercial CFD codes, especially if mass transfer across the membrane material is to be rigorously modeled as the fluid/solid interface involves concentration discontinuities. An alternative approach that allows considering permeation in a flexible manner consists in applying sink terms to the cells adjacent to the wall (Foo et al, 2023). The Si sink term in Equations 3 and 5 represents the local permeation rate of species i and depends on the membrane permeability and the local partial pressure of the species:…”

Section: Cfd Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the difficulty of local and precise measurements in membrane modules, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become a decisive tool for a detailed investigation of their performances [Foo et al, 2023]. Indeed, CFD proves to be a reliable approach as it consists in solving the hydrodynamics and mass transfer equations without a priori assumptions about the limiting mass transfer resistances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of concentration polarization on membrane gas separation processes: From 1D modelling to detailed CFD simulations

Abdul Majid,

Hreiz,

Castel

et al. 2023

Chemical Engineering Science

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Section: Cfd Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of concentration polarization on membrane gas separation processes: From 1D modelling to detailed CFD simulations

Abdul Majid,

Hreiz,

Castel

et al. 2023

Chemical Engineering Science

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“…The following assumptions were used for the modeling of the HFM membra ule: [38,39] a. Steady-state condition is applied. b. Laminar flow is considered with constant physical properties.…”

Section: Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of a Hollow Fiber Membrane Module for Binary Gas Mixture

Qadir

Ahsan

Hussain³

2023

Gases

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The membrane gas separation process has gained significant attention using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. This study considered the CFD method to find gas concentration profiles in a hollow fiber membrane (HFM) module to separate the binary gas mixture. The membrane was considered with a fiber thickness where each component’s mass fluxes could be obtained based on the local partial pressures, solubility, diffusion, and the membrane’s selectivity. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to solve the numerical solution at corresponding operating conditions and results were compared to experimental data. The two different mixtures, CO2/CH4 and N2/O2, were investigated to obtain concentration gradient and mass flux profiles of CO2 and O2 species in an axial direction. This study allows assessing the feed pressure’s impact on the HFM system’s overall performance. These results demonstrate that the increment in feed pressures decreased the membrane system’s separation performance. The impact of hollow fiber length indicates that increasing the active fiber length has a higher effective mass transfer region but dilutes the permeate-side purities of O2 (46% to 28%) and CO2 (93% to 73%). The results show that increasing inlet pressure and a higher concentration gradient resulted in higher flux through the membrane.

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“…This can potentially lead to incorrect computations, because one of the key targets for flux computation relies on the precise evaluation of the membrane interface solute concentration in the gas boundary layer (i.e., c m ). The most rigorous simulation approach, in that case, is to perform CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations, which enable 2D or 3D simultaneous resolutions of momentum, mass, and energy balances [16]. Surprisingly, very few studies have been reported where CFD is applied to membrane gas separations processes [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Concentration Polarization Phenomena on Gas Separation Processes with High-Performance Zeolite Membranes: Experiments vs. Simulations

Abdul Majid,

Kuznetsova,

Castel

et al. 2024

Membranes

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Polarization phenomena play a key role in membrane separation processes but remain largely unexplored for gas separations, where the mass transfer resistance is most often limited to the membrane. This assumption, which is commonly used today for the simulation of membrane gas separations, has to be reconsidered when high-performance materials, showing a very high permeance and/or selectivity, are used. In this study, a series of steady-state separation performances experimentally obtained on CO2/CH4 mixtures with a zeolite membrane are compared to the predictions of a dedicated 1D approach, recently derived and validated through CFD simulations. Polarization effects are shown to generate a significant negative impact on the separation performances, both in terms of the productivity and separation efficiency. The 1D model predictions, based on pure gas permeance data and without any adjustable parameters, are in very good agreement with the experimental data. This fast and efficient modeling approach can easily be implemented in simulation or process synthesis programs for the rigorous evaluation of membrane gas separation processes, when high-performance materials are used.

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Computational fluid dynamics simulations of membrane gas separation: Overview, challenges and future perspectives

Cited by 19 publications

References 102 publications

Impact of concentration polarization on membrane gas separation processes: From 1D modelling to detailed CFD simulations

Impact of concentration polarization on membrane gas separation processes: From 1D modelling to detailed CFD simulations

Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of a Hollow Fiber Membrane Module for Binary Gas Mixture

Impact of Concentration Polarization Phenomena on Gas Separation Processes with High-Performance Zeolite Membranes: Experiments vs. Simulations

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