Modeling and simulation of the absorption of CO₂ and NO₂ from a gas mixture in a membrane contactor

The removal of undesirable compounds such as CO₂ and NO₂ from incineration and natural gas is essential because of their harmful influence on the atmosphere and on the reduction of natural gas heating value. The use of membrane contactor for the capture of the post-combustion NO₂ and CO₂ had been widely considered in the past decades. In this study, membrane contactor was used for the simultaneous absorption of CO₂ and NO₂ from a mixture of gas (5% CO₂, 300 ppm NO₂, balance N₂) with aqueous sodium hydroxide solution. For the first time, a mathematical model was established for the simultaneous removal of the two undesired gas solutes (CO₂, NO₂) from flue gas using membrane contactor. The model considers the reaction rate, and radial and axial diffusion of both compounds. The model was verified and validated with experimental data and found to be in good agreement. The model was used to examine the effect of the flow rate of liquid, gas, and inlet solute mole fraction on the percent removal and molar flux of both impurity species. The results revealed that the effect of the liquid flow rate improves the percent removal of both compounds. A high inlet gas flow rate decreases the percent removal. It was possible to obtain the complete removal of both undesired compounds. The model was confirmed to be a dependable tool for the optimization of such process, and for similar systems.