A mechanistic model was developed in order to predict capture and removal of CO2 from air using membrane technology. The considered membrane was a hollow-fiber contactor module in which gas mixture containing CO2 was assumed as feed while 2-amino-2-metyl-1-propanol (AMP) was used as an absorbent. The mechanistic model was developed according to transport phenomena taking into account mass transfer and chemical reaction between CO2 and amine in the contactor module. The main aim of modeling was to track the composition and flux of CO2 and AMP in the membrane module for process optimization. For modeling of the process, the governing equations were computed using finite element approach in which the whole model domain was discretized into small cells. To confirm the simulation findings, model outcomes were compared with experimental data and good consistency was revealed. The results showed that increasing temperature of AMP solution increases CO2 removal in the hollow-fiber membrane contactor.
Keywords: Mass transfer; Mechanistic model; Membrane; Numerical simulation; Separation.