Analysis of hybrid membrane and chemical absorption systems for CO2 capture

Abstract

Amine-based absorption of CO2 is currently the industry standard technology for capturing CO2 emitted from power plants, refineries and other large chemical plants. However, more recently there have been a number of competing technologies under consideration, including the use of membranes for CO2 separation and purification. We constructed and analyzed two different hybrid configurations combining and connecting chemical absorption with membrane separation. For a particular flue gas which is currently treated with amine-based chemical absorption at a pilot plant we considered and tested how membranes could be integrated to improve the performance of the CO2 capture. In particular we looked at the CO2 removal efficiency and the energy requirements. Sensitivity analysis was performed varying the size of the membranes and the solvent flow rate.