HOLLOW FIBER MEMBRANE MODULE FOR MULTI-COMPONENT GAS SEPARATION: MODELING, SIMULATION AND PROCESS ECONOMICS

The widespread expansion of hollow fiber membrane system in industrial gas
separation as compared to the traditional techniques is attributed to its environmental
advantage as a green technology. The performance of the hollow fiber membrane
module has been described by different mathematical models considering that it is an
indispensable tool to assist in the design, scale up and optimization of industrial
membrane processes. However, there is limited work done in the field of process
simulation, whereby mathematical models can be incorporated within commercial
process simulators to link the membrane unit with other available unit operations. In
addition, the available hollow fiber mathematical models are usually based on ideal
binary assumption. Moreover, although commercial hollow fiber membrane modules
for gas separation are classified into different flow configurations, most of the
mathematical models are confined to merely study of one flow pattern.