[234] Modeling and simulation of gas separations with spiral-wound membranes

R.F. DeJaco, K. Loprete, K. Pennisi, S. Majumdar, J.I. Siepmann, P. Daoutidis, H. Murnen, and M. Tsapatsis

AIChE J. 66, e16274 (2020)

Publication Abstract

Models for gas separations with spiral-wound membranes are developed and found to exhibit good agreement with experiments performed on N2/O2 mixtures. The two-dimensional (2D) model can be accurately approximated by a one-dimensional (1D) surrogate model when the spacer widths are chosen to make the channel pressure drops small. Subsequently, the separation of propane/propylene mixtures from the recycle purge stream of a polypropylene reactor is investigated. Assuming ideal gas is found to lead to significant overestimations in membrane stage cuts (sometimes more than 10%), an extent comparable to that associated with extrapolating constant olefin permeance from a low-pressure condition. While olefin permeance can change significantly with pressure, using a constant-permeance formulation can result in a small (< 2.5%) underprediction in stage cut if the value for the permeance is taken from the feed condition. Finally, membrane properties and costs necessary for a viable separation process are discussed.

Siepmann Group Authors
graphical abstract