Modeling of simultaneous removal of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide in a polypropylene hollow fiber membrane contactor in the presence of monoethanolamine

In this paper, a two-dimensional mathematical model was presented for the removal of CO2 and H2S in a polypropylene hollow fiber membrane contactor in the presence of MEA. Modeling was performed in both axial and radial directions under the dry condition for countercurrent gas-liquid flow arrangement. To evaluate the model, the results of this modeling were compared with experimental data of removal of CO2 in the presence of water physical solvent and MEA chemical solvent. The results showed that the CO2 and H2S removal efficiency increased with the increase of the liquid flow rate, number of fibers, membrane length, and solvent concentration, but, decrease by increasing gas flow rate because of lower hold up time. It was also found that in low amine discharges, hydrogen sulfide is completely removed. Finally, the results showed that by increasing the wetting, the removal of these gases is reduced.