(82c) Development of a Carbon Capture Membrane from an Existing Product and It’s Laboratory Performance Under Highly Realistic Conditions

Compact Membrane Systems (CMS) has developed a novel Optipermâ„¢ membrane platform to enable the efficient separation of two of the most critical needs of the industry: olefin-paraffin separation and carbon capture from post combustion flue gas. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered to be a highly promising technique to reduce CO₂ emissions from point sources across multiple industries where membranes are seen as one of the most promising, low cost emerging technologies to compete with traditional amine towers.

CMS was able to build upon the success of the Optiperm^TM olefins platform to create a new membrane technology capable of removing CO₂ from low pressure flue streams with high efficiency, creating a solution for point source carbon capture that required both low CAPEX and OPEX. Optiperm^TM carbon applied the learnings of facilitated transport and humidification and transferred that for the selective removal of CO₂. In order to build a new membrane product offering off an existing product, modifications were needed to reach the performance necessary to achieve low cost carbon capture separation. We will discuss the effects of these modifications, such as moving from a spiral wound to a hollow fiber module, the effect of pressure drop, and overall system design to optimally run under very low driving forces.

CMS will present the results of laboratory testing for the separation of CO₂ from N₂ under highly realistic conditions. Specifically, we will discuss the effects of high feed temperature and very low feed pressure. We will also discuss the importance and effects of high stage cuts for facilitated transport membranes and the impact it has on the overall membrane performance. Finally, membrane stability data with common flue gas contaminants such as SO_x and NO_x will also be presented. Preliminary results from three pilot projects in steel, refractory materials, and acid gas incinerator applications will also be presented and compared to laboratory results.