Membrane, Module and Process Design for Supercritical CO2 Dehydration
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Membrane, module and process design for supercritical CO2 dehydration Citation for published version (APA): Shamu, A. (2019). Membrane, module and process design for supercritical CO2 dehydration. Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. Document status and date: Published: 26/06/2019 Document Version: Publisher’s PDF, also known as Version of Record (includes final page, issue and volume numbers) Please check the document version of this publication: • A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. 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If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement: www.tue.nl/taverne Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us at: [email protected] providing details and we will investigate your claim. Download date: 11. Oct. 2021 Membrane, module and process design for supercritical CO2 dehydration A. Shamu Copyright © 2019 by A. Shamu. All Rights Reserved. CIP-DATA LIBRARY TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT EINDHOVEN Shamu, Andrew Membrane, module and process design for supercritical CO2 dehydra- tion/ by A. Shamu. Eindhoven: Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, 2019. Proefschrift. Cover design by A. Shamu and Proefschriftenprinten.nl A catalogue record is available from the Eindhoven University of Tech- nology Library ISBN 978-90-386-4788-3 Keywords: Supercritical CO2, Dense membranes, Permeability, Concen- tration polarization, Selectivity Printed by Proefschriftenprinten.nl Membrane, module and process design for supercritical CO2 dehydration PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr.ir. F.P.T. Baaijens, voor een commissie aangewezen door het College voor Promoties, in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag 26 juni 2019 om 13:30 uur door Andrew Shamu geboren te Mashava, Zimbabwe Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door de promotoren en de samenstelling van de promotiecommissie is als volgt: voorzitter: prof.dr. A.P.H.J. Schenning 1e promotor: prof.dr.ir. D.C. Nijmeijer 2e promotor: dr.ir. Z. Borneman leden: prof.dr. E. Favre (University of Lorraine) prof.dr.ir. R.G.H. Lammertink (Universiteit Twente) prof.dr.ir. M. van Sint Annaland prof.dr.ir. F. Gallucci adviseur: dr. S.J. Metz (Metal Membranes B.V.) Het onderzoek of ontwerp dat in dit proefschrift wordt beschreven is uitgevoerd in overeenstemming met de TU/e Gedragscode Wetenschapsbeoefening. To Annette and Jennifer, my family. "Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s own understanding without the guidance of another. This immaturity is self-incurred if its cause is not lack of understanding, but lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another. The motto of enlightenment is therefore: Sapere Aude! Have courage to use your own under- standing!" - Immanuel Kant - Contents Summary xiii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background . .1 1.2 Penetrant transport through dense polymer membranes . .2 1.3 Concentration polarization . .7 1.4 Supercritical fluids . .8 1.5 Supercritical extraction . 10 1.6 Regeneration of scCO2 using membranes . 11 1.7 Scope of this thesis . 12 2 Permeation of supercritical CO2 through dense polymeric membranes 21 2.1 Introduction . 22 2.2 Background . 23 2.3 Experimental . 24 2.3.1 Membrane preparation . 24 2.3.2 Gas sorption . 25 2.3.3 Membrane cell . 26 2.3.4 High-pressure permeation setup . 28 2.4 Results and discussion . 29 2.4.1 Setup validation . 29 2.4.2 Various fluids . 32 2.4.3 Various materials . 34 x CONTENTS 2.4.4 Sorption experiments . 35 2.5 Conclusions . 41 3 The effect of supercritical CO2 on the permeation of dissolved H2O through PDMS 47 3.1 Introduction . 48 3.2 Background . 50 3.3 Experimental . 52 3.3.1 Membrane preparation . 52 3.3.2 Membrane cell . 52 3.3.3 High-pressure permeation setup . 54 3.4 Results and discussion . 55 3.4.1 CO2 and N2 permeation . 55 3.4.2 H2O permeation . 57 3.4.3 Effect of boundary layer resistance . 59 3.5 Conclusions . 65 Supporting information . 69 4 Membrane-based dehydration of supercritical CO2: Mass transfer studies 71 4.1 Introduction . 72 4.2 Theory . 75 4.2.1 Transport model . 76 4.2.2 Mass transfer coefficient of the skin layer . 77 4.2.3 Mass transfer coefficient of the porous support layer . 78 4.2.4 Mass transfer coefficient of the boundary layers . 80 4.2.5 Calculation of driving force and fluxes . 82 4.2.6 Selectivity . 84 4.3 Results and discussion . 85 4.3.1 Delineating the overall mass transport resistance for water 85 4.3.2 Influence of temperature and pressure on the H2O feed boundary resistance . 86 4.3.3 Selectivity . 89 4.3.4 Effect of skin layer thickness . 91 4.3.5 Driving force . 93 4.3.6 Summary of all discussed effects . 95 4.4 Conclusions . 98 CONTENTS xi 5 Membrane-based dehydration of supercritical CO2: A techno-economical evaluation 103 5.1 Introduction . 104 5.2 Techno-economic process description . 106 5.2.1 Extraction unit . 106 5.2.2 Membrane-based process . 107 5.2.3 Zeolite-based process . 113 5.2.4 Cost estimation . 115 5.3 Results and Discussion . 119 5.3.1 Effect of skin layer thickness . 119 5.3.2 Process configuration . 121 5.3.3 Membrane unit & membrane material . 128 5.4 Conclusions . 133 Addendum to Chapter 5: Proof of principle for membrane-based super- critical CO2 regeneration during fruit drying process 139 Introduction . 140 Background . 140 Experimental . 141 Membrane preparation . 141 CO2 and apparent H2O permeability measurements . 142 Fresh fruit moisture content . 142 Supercritical drying of fruits . 143 Results and discussion . 144 ® CO2 and H2O permeation of SPEEK and Nafion ......... 144 Proof of principle: Fruit drying process . 146 Visual observation of scCO2 dried fruits . 149 Conclusions . 151 6 Conclusions and Outlook 155 6.1 Conclusions . 155 6.2 Outlook . 159 6.2.1 Concentration polarization . 159 6.2.2 Permeation kinetics . 159 6.2.3 Understanding the liquid-gas phase transition . 159 6.2.4 Membrane based separation of scCO2 and organic com- pounds . 161 6.2.5 Hybrid process for scCO2 regeneration . 162 6.2.6 Membrane module for scCO2 regeneration . 163 xii CONTENTS About the author 165 Summary Membrane, module and process design for supercritical CO2 dehydration Supercritical CO2 (scCO2) is used in the food industry as a water extrac- tion agent due to its non-toxicity, near-ambient critical temperature and easy removal from the product once the dehydration is completed. Further, clear vapor-liquid interfaces, as present in conventional air drying, are avoided. These interfaces induce capillary stress which results in damages in the microstructure of the dried food. After water extraction from the fresh food products, scCO2 needs to be dewatered and regenerated to be reused for the next water ex- traction cycle. This is currently done in columns packed with adsorbents such as zeolites. These zeolites, in turn, need also to be regenerated. This energy damanding reactivation process requires temperatures up to 260 °C. Previous studies suggest that in terms of economic feasibility dense polymer membranes might be an interesting alternative for the drying of scCO2. However, to date and to the best of my knowledge, this membrane option has never been ex- plored in more detail. The research goal of the present work therefore was to investigate, both at the experimental and theoretical (simulation) level, the po- tential of a membrane-based process for the dehydration of supercritical CO2. Research included the permeation behavior of supercritical CO2 and dissolved H2O through dense polymer membranes, mass transfer effects occurring at the membrane-feed and permeate interfaces, a detailed process design study as well as a techno-economic evaluation of the membrane-based dehydration process. xiv Summary Chapter 2 starts with a detailed examination of the permeation behavior of dry supercritical CO2 through three very different dense polymer membranes, sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene (Nafion®), natural rubber and polydimethylsilox- ane (PDMS), at various pressures and temperatures reaching up to 185 bar and 55 °C, respectively. Whereas the absolute CO2 permeability differed greatly for these three membrane materials, the CO2 permeability profiles showed very similar trends with increasing feed pressure. This last observation confirmed the idea that rather than the membrane material, the properties of scCO2 is the de- termining parameter of the CO2 permeability profiles. Sorption measurements revealed a clear correlation between the CO2 concentration in the polymer and the CO2 density at the feed side at elevated pressures, indicating that the CO2 density is the dominant parameter.