Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactors for CO2 Capture: Modeling and Up-Scaling to CO2 Capture for an 800 MWe Coal Power Station

A techno-economic analysis was completed to compare the use of Hollow Fiber Membrane Modules (HFMM) with the more conventional structured packing columns as the absorber in amine-based CO2capture systems for power plants. In order to simulate the operation of industrial scale HFMMsystems, a two-dimensional model was developed and validated based on results of a laboratory scale HFMM. After successful experiments and validation of the model, a pilot scaleHFMMwas constructed and simulated with the same model. The results of the simulations, from both sizes of HFMM, were used to assess the feasibility of further up-scaling to a HFMM system to capture the CO2from an 800 MWe power plant. The system requirements – membrane fiber length, total contact surface area, and module volume – were determined from simulations and used for an economic comparison with structured packing columns. Results showed that a significant cost reduction of at least 50% is required to make HFMM competitive with structured packing columns. Several factors for the design of industrial scale HFMMrequire further investigation, such as the optimal aspect ratio (module length/diameter), membrane lifetime, and casing material and shape, in addition to the need to reduce the overall cost. However,HFMMwere also shown to have the advantages of having a higher contact surface area per unit volume and modular scale-up, key factors for applications requiring limited footprints or flexibility in configuration.