CO2 removal from natural gas by employing amine absorption and membrane technology—A technical and economical analysis

A technical and economic analysis of gas sweetening processes for natural gas with amine absorption and membrane technology has been conducted. Amine absorption is still considered a state of the art technology for gas sweetening but membranes have shown a great potential in this area, if the flux and selectivity for CO2 is high enough. The PVAm/PVA (polyvinyl amine and polyvinyl alcohol) membrane, developed at NTNU shows such qualities. For two different feed gas cases a simulation analysis with Aspen Hysys for amine absorption and a membrane model interfaced within Aspen Hysys was performed. Further, an economical analysis was also conducted to evaluate the total capital investment and gas processing cost for both technologies.

• CO2 capture.
• Comparing amine absorption and membrane separation technologies.
• Technical and economical comparison.
• Facilitated transport membrane.