In the last twenty or thirty years, membranes have received increased use in gas treating systems And, as a result, considerable research has been conducted in the gas treating membrane area. Here at the University of Regina, the focus has been placed on membranes for gas absorption.
Serving the same purpose as traditional packed column absorbers, membrane absorbers effectively contact the gas and liquid phases, enabling mass transfer to occur. The system consists of a microporous membrane, which separates the gas and liquid phases. When the CO2 passes through the pores of the membrane and absorbs into the chemical solvent on the other side, mass transfer occurs.
The key highlights of this project include:
Membrane absorbers offer a large interfacial contact area in a smaller module volume than traditional packed columns. Furthermore, they can operate with independent gas and liquid flow rates, thus reducing the problems of entrainment, flooding, channeling, and foaming that are found in traditional packed column absorbers.
Research Consortium of International Test Centre for CO2 Capture Sponsored By:
SaskPower, EnCana, HTC Purenergy, E.ON|UK, Saudi Aramco, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI), RWEnpower, Babcock & Wilcox, Natural Resources Canada, and Saskatchewan Energy & Resources
Other support also provided by:
Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Western Economic Diversification Canada, Government of Saskatchewan, Alberta Research Council, Natural Resources Canada, University of Waterloo, and University of Regina.