Modeling and Designing Polyimide-Derived Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Carbon Capture from Flue Gas

Antonio Mascaro*, San Dinh, and Fernando V. Lima
Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation No.: 60

Assigned Category (Presentation Format): Engineering (Poster Presentations)

Student’s Major: Chemical Engineering

One of the chief concerns in the emergence of environmental accountability is the magnitude of pollution stemming from energy generation and industrial use of fossil fuels. As such, measures helping to curtail emissions of gases such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) are soon to prove vital. A promising form of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology is that of membrane separations, specifically Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS) varieties. These membranes show strong ability to separate difficult pairs of gases with extreme precision via their highly selective permeabilities, with the added potential of being more cost effective and energy efficient than traditional CCS systems. In this work, an entry level CMS system is modeled in MATLAB and used to separate a flue gas stream taken from a U.S. Department of Energy benchmark amine-scrubbing CCS system. The simulated model shows the membrane’s ability to isolate CO2 from the mixture, with expected decrease in equipment and operational costs. The decrease in energy consumption and high degree of separation parameters suggest CMS membranes could be viable alternatives to conventional CCS systems.

Funding:

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's SURE program (Rita Rio & Michelle Richards-Babb)