Effect of PVDF concentration on the morphology and performance of hollow fiber membrane employed as gas–liquid membrane contactor for CO2 absorption

CATEGORY: CARBON CAPTURE
Separation and Purification Technology, Volume 98, 19 September 2012, Pages 174–185
Effect of PVDF concentration on the morphology and performance of hollow fiber membrane employed as gas–liquid membrane contactor for CO2 absorption
Nayef Ghasem, Mohamed Al-Marzouqi, Ali Duidar
Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, UAE University, Alain City, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Researchers prepared  poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes to be used in a gas–liquid contacting process. Porous PVDF hollow fiber membranes were produced via the thermal induced phase separation method.
The polymer solution was formulated by varying polymer concentrations. Triacetin was used as solvent and internal coagulant while water as external coagulant. Measurement of membrane pore size, membrane porosity, liquid entry pressure of water (LEPw), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for membrane characterization. The mean pore size, effective surface porosity and void fraction of membranes decreased as the polymer concentration increased, by contrast, LEPW and membrane density increased. Furthermore the performance of PVDF membrane in contactor applications in terms of CO2 absorption with 0.5 M NaOH as absorbent liquid is compared with the absorption flux of commercial and in-house made hydrophobic membranes. Results revealed that as polymer concentration in the dope solution increased, CO2 flux of membrane decreased.
Full Text Source (Subscription or Fee): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138358661200367X