Field trial of spiral-wound facilitated transport membrane module for CO2 capture from flue gas

A field trial with 1.4 m(2) spiral-wound (SW) membrane modules fabricated from an amine-containing facilitated transport membrane was conducted with actual flue gas at the National Carbon Capture Center in Wilsonville, AL, U.S.A. Prior to the field test, the membrane modules were systematically evaluated with simulated flue gas to identify the optimal operating conditions, including feed flow rate, feed pressure and operating temperature. With the actual flue gas, the membrane modules showed ca. 1450 GPU CO2 permeance and 185 CO2/N-2 selectivity at 67 degrees C with feed and permeate pressures of 4 and 0.3 atm, respectively. A 500-h stability was demonstrated in spite of the interference of system upsets and flue gas outages. During the field trial, carbon capture rates of better than 40% were achieved by a single SW module with coal-derived flue gas. Except for a few flue gas upsets, the CO2 purities in the captured stream were 94.5% or better on dry basis. The data obtained from this project validates the membrane material and provide basis for the design and fabrication of full-scale SW module with a membrane area larger than 50 m(2). It should be noted that no significant amounts of Cr, As and Se were deposited onto the membrane during this 500-h test.