Process Intensification by Coupling Gas Permeation and Membrane Contactor for Removing CO₂ at Low Partial Pressure

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Effective carbon dioxide (CO2) removal is critical for crew safety in confined environments.
• Current CO2 elimination technologies face challenges in achieving ideal performance and simplicity.
• Maintaining low CO2 concentrations requires advanced process coupling strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel method for CO2 elimination using combined gas permeation and membrane contactors.
• To evaluate the efficiency of this coupled process for CO2 removal at low partial pressures.
• To optimize process design for enhanced system performance and operational simplicity.

Main Methods:

• Development and validation of mathematical models for the coupled gas permeation and membrane contactor process.
• Experimental validation of the mathematical models.
• Computational evaluation of the process performance and membrane characteristics.
• Analysis of process design, including single-stage versus two-step flowsheets.

Main Results:

• The coupled process effectively eliminates CO2 at low partial pressures.
• High-performance membranes (CO2 permeance of 1000, CO2/N2 selectivity of ~40) significantly reduce the required membrane surface area.
• A single-stage flowsheet demonstrates comparable effectiveness to a two-step method with simplified operations.

Conclusions:

• The developed method offers a simplified and efficient solution for CO2 elimination.
• Process design plays a crucial role in enhancing the performance of CO2 removal systems.
• This study advances the understanding of CO2 elimination technologies for practical applications.