Effect of the membrane operating parameters on the separation of oxygen and hydrogen disulphide

Abstract

The processes of separating oxygen in air and H₂S in the acid gas feed using a membrane process are based on the relative permeability of components in the feed and are done due to the pressure difference between membrane sides. The mathematical modeling and simulations of the membrane separation processes is solved using EES software without the need for programming outside of the simulator. Passing flow through the membrane is considered counter current and the simulation is done according to the characteristics of hollow fibre membranes. In this study, using this simulator, the percentage of separating components (oxygen and H₂S) of the air and sour gas in the two output flow of the membrane and effect of different parameters on the separation percentage of these components is reviewed. With increasing the feed flow (air and acid gas feed), oxygen and H₂S concentration output of the membrane is decreased. However, concentrations of these components have direct correlation with the selectivity and membrane surface area. In addition, the effect of the feed pressure on the oxygen and H₂S percentage output of the membrane is a function of the permeate pressure.