GTI and PoroGen Corporation are working jointly on developing an advanced membrane contactor technology for FLNG applications. The membrane contactor is manufactured utilizing poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), hollow fiber membranes. The PEEK hollow fibers used in the contactor module construction are made using a patented process. We have performed numerous sets of tests to evaluate membrane contactor performance for C02 and H2S removal from simulated natural gas streams. These tests were conducted with various types of membrane modules. Membrane properties and module design were optimized towards C02 and H2S removal. Bench scale tests were conducted utilizing DEA as a solvent (30 wt% DEA). The measured overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient for C02 removal for the membrane contactor equaled 1.1 (sec)-1, which is 15 times higher than the maximum mass transfer coefficient of a packed column. Based on the measured mass transfer coefficient it was estimated that one 8-inch diameter by 60-in long contactor module containing 1000 ft2 membrane surface area can treat 3.7 MMSCFD of feed gas containing 8.0 vol. % C02 inlet concentration to 2.0 vol.% outlet C02 concentration product gas. FLNG applications require higher product purity. For FLNG applications, the membrane contactor can be used to reduce the inlet C02 concentration from 8% down to 50 ppm. The manufacturing process for the preparation of PEEK hollow fiber membrane modules was scaled up from the bench-scale cartridge sizes used in performance tests to larger membrane area size commercial cartridges with 1000 ft2 of membrane area.
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