Simulation Assessment of Inlet Parameters and Membrane-Surface-Structure Effects on CO 2 Absorption Flux in Membrane Contactors

Amin Mojarad Garehbagh, Saeid Rajabzadeh (), Mahmoud A. Shouman, Mohamed R. Elmarghany, Mohamed S. Salem, Nasrul Arahman, Toraj Mohammadi and Hideto Matsuyama
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Amin Mojarad Garehbagh: Centre of Excellence for Membrane Science and Technology, Department of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Narmak, Tehran 16846-13114, Iran
Saeid Rajabzadeh: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
Mahmoud A. Shouman: Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
Mohamed R. Elmarghany: Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
Mohamed S. Salem: Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
Nasrul Arahman: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia
Toraj Mohammadi: Centre of Excellence for Membrane Science and Technology, Department of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Narmak, Tehran 16846-13114, Iran
Hideto Matsuyama: Research Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kobe University, Rokkodaicho 1-1, Nada, Kobe 657-8501, Japan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-15

Abstract: The management of global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions is considered one of the main environmental problems facing the modern world. One of the potential techniques for CO 2 capture is absorption, using membrane contactor modules. Most of the previous research that dealt with membrane contactor simulations considered the whole membrane surface as the active reaction surface. However, in this paper, a more realistic model of the membrane-contactor module is presented, taking into account the effects of the pore size and surface porosity. CO 2 absorption into the monoethanolamine (MEA) solution in hollow fiber membrane-contactor modules was numerically investigated. A computational fluid dynamics simulation was established using essential basic fluid dynamics and mass transfer equations in reactive mode. An algorithmic function was used to present the relations between the CO 2 absorption flux and the hollow fiber length, membrane surface pore size, and porosity. The simulation results were compared to previously obtained experimental results without using any fitting parameters, and a good agreement was found with an average error of 8.5%. The validated simulation was then used to predict the effects of the MEA inlet velocity and concentration, the membrane surface pore size, and porosity on the total CO 2 absorption flux. A maximum absorption flux of about 1.8 mol/m 2 ·s was achieved at an MEA concentration of 4 M with a pore size of 0.2 microns, a surface porosity of 1%, and an inlet velocity of 0.25 m/s. The extrapolation technique was then used to predict the values of the absorption flux at longer fiber lengths. The concentration profiles around the pores at the gas–liquid contact surface of the membrane were obtained and presented. The proposed model exhibited excellent potential to evaluate the effective reaction surface in hollow fiber membrane contactors. This model could be considered the first step to obtaining accurate predictions of the membrane contactor gas absorption performance based on its surface structure.

Keywords: CO 2 absorption; MEA; membrane contactor; CFD; porosity; pore size (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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