Post-Combustion Flue Gas Separation Membrane Performance Testing Skid

We have recently constructed and deployed a constant pressure/variable volume membrane gas separation performance testing system at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC). The skid-mounted system was intended to perform fully automated testing of bench-scale experimental membranes using real flue gas obtained from Alabama Power’s Gaston Unit 5, a pulverized coal fired boiler. Currently the unit is optimized to deliver up to 50 cc/min flue gas at up to 2 bar to small membrane samples (around 2 cm² in area) in both hollow fiber and flat sheet form, but the unit itself is amenable to future upgrades to test larger membrane modules. In this talk, we will present the unit’s capabilities and share some preliminary results from testing several mixed matrix thin film composite hollow fiber membranes on actual flue gas with humidity and minor contaminants present. These lab-scale membranes were tested over short testing periods, quantifying the carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen and water vapor permeances, and we expect to continue testing more membranes over longer periods during the summer.