Reducing the Cost of CO2 Capture from Flue Gases Using Membrane Technology

Studies of CO 2 capture using membrane technology from coal-fired power-plant flue gas typically assume compression of the feed to achieve a driving force across the membrane. The high CO 2 capture cost of these systems reflects the need to compress the low-pressure feed gas (1 bar) and the low CO 2 purity of the product stream. This article investigates how costs for CO 2 capture using membranes can be reduced by operating under vacuum conditions. The flue gas is pressurized to 1.5 bar, whereas the permeate stream is at 0.08 bar. Under these operating conditions, the capture cost is U.S. $54/tonne CO 2 avoided compared to U.S. $82/tonne CO 2 avoided using membrane processes with a pressurized feed. This is a reduction of 35%. The article also investigates the effect on the capture cost of improvements in CO 2 permeability and selectivity. The results show that the capture cost can be reduced to less than U.S. $25/tonne CO 2 avoided when the CO 2 permeability is 300 barrer, CO 2 /N 2 selectivity is 250, and the membrane cost is U.S. $10/m 2 .