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Gas separation by permeators with high‐flux asymmetric membranes
Author(s) -
Pan C. Y.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690290405
Subject(s) - countercurrent exchange , pressure drop , membrane , permeation , mechanics , hollow fiber membrane , flux (metallurgy) , fiber , membrane technology , spiral (railway) , flow (mathematics) , materials science , chemistry , gas separation , helium , chromatography , thermodynamics , chemical engineering , engineering , mechanical engineering , physics , composite material , organic chemistry , biochemistry
The permeation behavior of the high‐flux asymmetric membrane differs from that of the conventional symmetric membrane. A calculation method for predicting the gas separation performance of a permeator with asymmetric membrane is presented. The model takes into account the permeate pressure drop and is applicable to both hollow‐fiber and spiral‐wound modules. The effect of permeate‐feed flow pattern on module performance is analyzed. It is shown that for the high‐flux asymmetric membrane, the countercurrent flow pattern is not necessarily always the preferred operating mode. The mathematical model is verified by large‐scale field pilot‐plant experiments for helium recovery from natural gas using large hollow‐fiber modules (220 m 2 /unit).