Membrane gas-solvent contactor trials of CO2 absorption from syngas

Abstract

Membrane gas-solvent contactors incorporate the advantages of both solvent absorption and membrane gas separation technologies. Here, gas-solvent contactors are applied to the separation of carbon dioxide from syngas in a coal fired pilot plant. Two contactors, based on polypropylene (PP) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), are trialed with two solvents, 30wt.% monoethanolamine (MEA) and 30wt.% potassium carbonate (K 2CO 3) solutions. To validate performance, results were also obtained with a mixture of 10% CO 2 in N 2 in the laboratory. All contactor-solvent systems tested in the laboratory behaved in accordance with membrane contactor models with only minor pore wetting observed. Mass tran..