A Review on Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactors for Carbon Capture: Recent Advances and Future Challenges

Energy need is predicted to increase by 48% in the next 30 years. Global warming resulting from the continuously increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration is becoming a serious and pressing issue that needs to be controlled. CO2 capture and storage/use (CCS/CCU) provide a promising route to mitigate the environmental consequences of CO2 emission from fossil fuel combustion. In recent years, hollow fiber membrane contactors are regarded as an advanced technique with several competitive advantages over conventional technologies such as easy scale-up, independent control of flow rates, more operational flexibility, absence of flooding and foaming as well as high interfacial area per unit volume. However, many factors such as the membrane material selection, proper choice of solvent, and membrane module design are critical to success. In this regard, this paper aims at covering all areas related to hollow fiber membranes, including membrane material, membrane modification, membrane surface modification, shape, solvent characterization, operating parameters and costs, hybrid process, membrane lifetime, and energy consumption as well as commercially available systems. Current progress, future potential, and development of pilot-scale applications of this strategy are also assessed carefully. Furthermore, pore wetting as the main technical challenge in membrane contactor industrial implementation for post- and pre-combustion CO2 capture processes is investigated in detail.
Keywords: CO2 capture; microporous membrane; membrane contactor; gas separation; hollow fiber