Modeling and simulation for the removal of pollutant gases from natural gas using membrane contactors

摘要

A comprehensive mathematical model was developed to describe the performance of gas liquid membrane contactor used for the removal of pollutant gas from natural gas. The model takes into account the effect of mass, momentum and heat transfer. The model is validated with the experimental results obtained from the removal of CO_2 from CO_2/CH_4 gas mixture using custom made polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane contactor. Aqueous sodium hydroxide solution was used as the absorbent liquid. The effect of membrane packing density, inlet gas velocity and absorbent inlet temperature on the membrane contactor performance was investigated. Increases of gas velocity decreases percent removal of carbon dioxide, by contrast, increase of absorbent liquid temperature increases percent removal of CO_2. Comparison between experimental results and model predictions were in good agreement.