Oxygen integration between a gasification process and oxygen production using a mass exchange heuristic

In this work we analyze different design alternatives for the integration of a gasification process with the oxygen production process, through ITM membranes. We analyze the conventional separation design compared with a novel configuration in a countercurrent arrangement with sweep gas (using the gas permeation module as a mass exchanger). To assess the oxygen transfer in the permeation modules, they are modeled with Aspen Custom Modeler V8.4 and the different design alternatives are simulated in Aspen Plus V8.6. The economic analysis carried out shows that the counter-current arrangement with a sweep stream has a Total Annualized Cost 13.5% lower than the conventional separation design.