Modeling of ceramic hollow fiber membrane self-heated with electrical current for oxygen separation from air

Abstract

Oxygen permeation process through a gas-tight mixed conducting membrane is thermally activated in nature. To maintain elevated temperatures for membrane operations, a high temperature furnace is usually utilized. This leads to low efficiencies for heating power utilization and is difficult to change the temperature fast way due to the high volume of the furnace. Recently, a novel strategy has been employed to directly apply external electrical power to a hollow fiber membrane, achieving self-heating in a compact way. To better understand the fundamental mechanisms, herein, a mathematical model is developed for self-heated hollow fiber oxygen separation membrane assisted with vacuum conditions applied at the outlet of lumen side. Comprehensive simulations are conducted to study self-heating effects on Multiphysics transport processes and oxygen permeation performance. Simulations are also performed to investigate the effects of the orientations of electrical fields applied to hollow fiber membrane and the vacuum levels applied to the outlet of lumen side. The associated fundamental mechanisms are discussed and elaborated.