Membrane gas separation: modelling tool

Shell is a global energy and petrochemical company, committed to the energy transition and its net zero emissions. Reflected in the Powering progress strategy, Shell aims to provide more and cleaner energy solutions. Shell is investing and continuously developing low and zero carbon alternative fuels such as biofuel, hydrogen and other low and zero carbon products. This will lead to an increase in demand on gas processing and purification, of which commercially available hollow fibre membranes are expected to play a significant role. Membranes offer multiple advantages given their ease of scalability, environmental friendliness and their cost effectiveness compared to alternative technologies, as well as their relatively lower spatial footprint making them especially attractive for remote areas and offshore applications. As part of Shell’s extensive expertise in CMS hollow fiber membranes for gas separation spanning over 15 years, a Shell In-House hollow fiber membrane model was developed for gas separations.
This work provides a bridge between the technical knowledge attained at TU/e and the practical applications needed for the gas processing team in Shell’s P&T. The objective of this project was to further enhance the model’s flexibility and usability. The developed model offers the option of switching from the radial cross flow to the counter current configuration for the computation of the mass balance. Similarly, the model presents an adiabatic and an average energy balance for the computation of the outlet retentate and permeate temperatures.
The model is developed in the UniSim simulation software, making use of its thermodynamic packages and to have a unit operation that is user friendly and integrable in process simulation line. UniSim is the standard simulation package for upstream and gas processing within Shell, rendering the membrane process line ups easier to assess in terms of performance, techno-economics and for comparison purposes. This work establishes a foundational model and unit operation, which now facilitates Shell towards developing a comprehensive, universal gas separation membrane tool through future advancements