Journal of CO₂ Utilization 40 (2020) 101266

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Journal of CO2 Utilization

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jcou

Post-combustion CO2 capture with sweep gas in thin film composite (TFC) T
hollow fiber membrane (HFM) contactor
Mohammad Younasa,**, Tariq Tahira, Chunrui Wub,***, Sarah Farrukhc, Qazi Sohaiba,
Amir Muhammade, Mashallah Rezakazemid,*, Jianxin Lib
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan
b
National Center for International Res. on Membrane Sci. & Technol, State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Materials Science
and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, PR China
c
School of Chemical & Materials Engineering (SCME), National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan
d
Faculty of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
e
Department of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Pak-Austria Fachhochschule: Institute of Applied Sciences & Technology (PAF-IAST), Haripur, Pakistan

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In the current work, mini-modules of composite hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) were fabricated by dip-coating
Post-combustion CO2capture poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) fibers in Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with tri-layer for 10 s at 298 K with 5 s
Composite hollow fiber membrane of time laps for each immersion. The HFMs were prepared from PVDF/ Dimethylacetamide (DMAc)/Additive
Sweep gas systems by nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS) technique. The composite HFMs were tested for CO2
Permeance
permeation, CO2 enrichment (recovery ratio) and permselectivity of CO2/N2, for pure and mixed gases under
Selectivity
both feed compression and permeate vacuum. The modules were then investigated for post-combustion CO2
capture for mixed gas permeation under feed compression and countercurrent sweep mode. The effects of
pressure ratio, sweep gas ratio and temperature were also investigated on CO2 capture. The fabricated HFMs
with 2 wt % PDMS solution produced the dense layer thickness of 0.44 μm which achieved the CO2 permeance,
permselectivity and CO2 recovery ratio upto 2049 GPU, 27 and 0.38, respectively. In case of mixed gas (CO2/N2
in volume ratio of 15/85 %) permeation, the composite HFM modules were tested up to pressure ratio of 4,
sweep ratio of 1.4, temperature of 323 K and for 30-h long duration. Under these conditions, the maximum CO2
permeance, permselectivity and CO2 recovery ratio were achieved up to 1854 GPU, 34 and 0.32, respectively.
The composite HFMs showed promising results and could be useful in post-combustion CO2 capture, particularly
in coal/natural gas-based power plants.

1. Introduction
The anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide
(CO2) have severe consequences. CO2 has been considered as the main
component of global warming that has caused significant climate
changes [1]. International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported a gradual
annual increase in CO2 emissions. This increase is mainly caused due to
the utilization of fossil fuels as a primary energy source. Various tech-
niques have been developed and implemented in the past, for CO2 se-
paration from gaseous mixtures. These techniques include physisorp-
tion/chemisorption, solid adsorptions, and cryogenic separations [2].
However, membrane-based separation is regarded as an emerging
technology that can provide a cost-effective separation with the ad-
vantage of being more environmentally friendly [3].
The polymeric membranes due to its economic and environmental
benefits have brought the membrane-based gas separation techniques
at the forefront of the industry for more than three decades in gas se-
paration [4]. Such membranes used in gas separation industry are
competitive with conventional separation techniques such as cryogenic
separations, distillation, gas-liquid absorption and pressure swing ad-
sorption only if the membranes are high permeable and perm selective
to selective species. In the recent past, a novel membrane-based tech-
nique was developed to capture CO2 from coal power plant flue gas by
Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) [5]. The developed

⁎
Corresponding author at: Faculty of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran.
⁎⁎
Corresponding author at: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan.
⁎⁎⁎
Corresponding author at: National Center for International Res. on Membrane Sci. & Technol, State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane
Processes, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, PR China.
E-mail addresses: m.younas@uetpeshawar.edu.pk (M. Younas), wuchunrui@tiangong.edu.cn (C. Wu), mashalah.rezakazemi@gmail.com (M. Rezakazemi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2020.101266
Received 27 May 2020; Received in revised form 10 July 2020; Accepted 28 July 2020
Available online 10 August 2020
2212-9820/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.