New hybrid membrane vacuum swing adsorption process for CO₂ removal from N₂/CO₂ mixture: modeling and optimization by...

Area of Science:

• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Materials Science

Background:

• Flue gas treatment is crucial for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
• Existing carbon capture technologies face challenges in balancing CO2 purity and recovery rates.
• Hybrid processes offer potential for synergistic improvements in gas separation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and optimize a hybrid membrane/vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) process for efficient CO2 removal from flue gases.
• To investigate the simultaneous enhancement of CO2 purity and recovery.
• To model and optimize the integrated system for industrial applicability.

Main Methods:

• Modeling of a PEBAX nano-composite membrane system.
• Modeling of a zeolite 13X vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) system.
• Integration and modeling of the hybrid membrane/VSA process.
• Process optimization using a genetic algorithm.

Main Results:

• The hybrid membrane/VSA process demonstrated a 39% increase in CO2 product concentration and an 8% improvement in recovery compared to standalone VSA.
• Sensitivity analysis identified optimal parameters for purity and recovery, including vacuum pressure, membrane stage cut, and recycle ratio.
• Optimization achieved 94.7% CO2 purity and 99% recovery, alongside 99.9% N2 purity and 97.3% recovery.

Conclusions:

• The developed hybrid membrane/VSA process effectively enhances CO2 capture performance.
• The integrated system offers a viable solution for achieving high CO2 purity and recovery in industrial flue gas treatment.
• Optimized operating conditions enable tailored separation of CO2 and N2 streams.