Hollow fiber carbon membranes: From material to application

A general technical route of Design-Preparation-Construction-Operation-Integration (DPCOI) platform for hollow fiber carbon membranes (HFCMs) was firstly suggested to promote the development of carbon membrane material to commercial application. A polymer of cellulose acetate (CA) was chosen as the material for spinning of hollow fibers. Cellulosic precursors were regenerated from CA hollow fibers using an optimized deacetylation process, which were further used for preparation of HFCMs using a specific carbonization procedure. Membrane separation performances of the prepared HFCMs were tested by gas permeation measurements for single gas and gas mixtures, while the carbon membrane stability and durability were documented by exposing the membranes to a real flue gas containing water vapor and acid gases of SO2 and NOx. HYSYS simulation was also conducted to evaluate the process feasibility of CO2 capture by HFCMs in a post combustion process. The investigation results indicated that DPCOI platform could be well used to guide the development of HFCMs, and potentially promote their commercial applications for gas separation. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.