Carbon dioxide stripping in ceramic hollow fibre membrane contactors

Ceramic hollow fibre membrane contactors have been applied to carbon dioxide stripping from monoethanolamine (MEA) solution at high temperature where most polymeric membranes would fail to operate. The experimental results show that the membrane contactors are immune from hydrodynamic problems, such as flooding and loading, since the gas and liquid phases can totally be separated by the hollow fibre membranes. The height of transfer unit (HTU) of the contactor was determined to be as low as 15 cm and is dependent on the fluid velocities. The mass transfer coefficients were theoretically predicted and found to be within a reasonable deviation. The mass transfer resistance in the liquid phase was found to be the majority of the total resistance.