Influence of the Approach to Membrane Mass Transfer Characteristics Determination on the Process Simulation Results

Abstract

In this work, the dependence of the output characteristics determined in the simulation of the gas separation membrane process on the gas transport characteristics of the membrane specified as parameters of the membrane module model has been investigated. The study was carried out on a laboratory setup containing polyphenylene oxide hollow fibres. As a result of this integrated study, including theoretical and experimental approaches, it has been determined that when using the ideal gas transport characteristics obtained for pure gases to simulate the process, the error expressed in achievable concentration of the target component in the product stream ranges from 1.5 to 8.8% compared to the experimentally obtained values for the same module geometry and the same membrane area. This discrepancy can lead both to unattainable targets for the technological line and to an incorrect technical and economic evaluation of the process. Thus, the design of technological lines using mathematical modelling tools should be based on the “effective” gas transport characteristics of the material and/or product obtained for the components of real gas mixtures or simulating real gas mixtures.