Effect of the Approach to Membrane Gas Transport Characteristics Determination on Gas Separation Process Simulation Results

Abstract

In this work, the dependence of the output characteristics of the gas separation membrane process determined during the simulation on the gas transport characteristics of the membrane as parameters of the membrane module model has been studied. The study has been performed using the example of a laboratory sample containing hollow fibers from polyphenylene oxide. As a result of this comprehensive study, including theoretical and experimental approaches, it has been determined that when using the gas transport characteristics obtained for pure gases for process simulation, the error expressed in the achievable concentration of the target component in the product stream is from 1.5 to 8.8% in comparison with the experimentally obtained values for the module of the same geometry and the same membrane area. This discrepancy can lead both to the setting of unattainable targets when creating a technological line and to an incorrect technical and economic assessment of the process. Thus, when designing technological lines using mathematical modeling tools, one should rely on the gas transport characteristics of a material and/or product obtained for components of real or simulating real gas mixtures.