Carbon dioxide stripping from water through porous polysulfone hollow fiber membrane contactor

Carbon dioxide (CO2) stripping from water was conducted through the porous asymmetric polysulfone (PSf) hollow fiber membrane contactor. The effect of the liquid and gas flow rates on the stripping performance, the liquid phase CO2 concentration and the CO2 stripping efficiency of the membrane module and the effect of liquid phase temperature on CO2 stripping flux were studied. The experimental results showed that the stripping gas velocity had a minor effect on the CO2 desorption flux while the increase in the liquid velocity could enhance CO2 desorption flux in the gas stripping membrane contactor. By increasing liquid flow rate to 200 ml/min, the maximum CO2 stripping efficiency of almost 66% was achieved. Enhancement of liquid flow rate from 50 to 200 ml/min increased the CO2 flux around 482%. It was found that the CO2 stripping flux was significantly affected by the liquid phase temperature. By increasing liquid temperature from 80 to 90 °C, the CO2 stripping flux increased from 1.3 × 10−4 to 4.9 × 10−4 mol m−2 s−1 at liquid velocity of 200 ml min−1. Hence, the higher stripping efficiency can be achieved by applying the higher liquid flow rate in the membrane contactor module. As well, the liquid phase temperature is a key parameter that needs to be controlled.

► Glycerol was used as additive to fabrication of polysulfone (PSf) hollow fiber membrane (HFM).
► The PSf HFM was used in contactor application for CO2 desorption from water.
► It was found that the liquid flow rate and temperature constitute key parameters.
► The gas velocity had a minor effect on the CO2 desorption flux.
► Stripping flux increased by increasing liquid flow rate and temperature.