Implementation of the Finite Element Method for Simulation of Mass Transfer in Membrane Contactors

Abstract

Mathematical modeling and numerical simulation of gas separation by means of polymeric membrane contactors is presented. The finite element method is implemented for numerical simulation. COMSOL Multiphysics is used for simulation. Continuity equations are solved via computational fluid dynamics techniques based on the finite element method. A laminar velocity profile is applied for the solvent. Velocity distribution of the gas flow in the contactor is obtained by Happel's model. The predictions of percent CO2 removal obtained by the modeling were compared with the experimental values from literature for CO2 removal from CO2/N2 gas mixtures with amines. The modeling predictions were in good agreement with experimental data for different values of liquid flow rates.

Simulation of Nonporous Polymeric Membranes Using CFD for Bioethanol Purification

“…As seen, the contribution of diffusion is very low compared to the convection which is mainly due to the high velocity of feed solution in the membrane module. Moreover, at the zone near the membrane' surface, the contribution of diffusive mass transfer increases significantly which is because of the low velocity of feed solution near the membrane' wall (no‐slip condition) . It should be noted that in the process of interest, the diffusive mass transfer flux is of great interest because it causes the transport of water molecules toward the membrane.…”

Transient computational fluid dynamics modeling of pervaporation separation of aromatic/aliphatic hydrocarbon mixtures using polymer composite membrane

“…The FEM was combined with adaptive meshing and error control using numerical solver of UMFPACK. This solver is an implicit time‐stepping scheme, which is well suited for solving stiff and non‐stiff non‐linear boundary value problems [27, 31–35]. Petrov–Galerkin method was used to discrete governing equation.…”

Spatial Scale Effects on Rayleigh Convection and Interfacial Mass Transfer Characteristics in CO2 Absorption

“…Researchers have long been interested in the buoyancydriven Rayleigh convection [3]. The interest arises from the fact that the convection can effectively enhance mass and/or heat transfer across the gas-liquid interface involved in many chemical engineering applications, such as distillation, extraction, and absorption [4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”