Development and Upscaling of Novel Hollow Fibre Membranes for Post-Combustion Flue Gas CO2 Separation and Capture in Gas-Fired Power Plants and Other Industries.

Carbon capture is a crucial technology for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes. One promising method for capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) is through the use of selective membrane technology, which separates CO₂ from flue gas based on its size and charge.

Hollow fibre membranes are a type of selective membrane that have shown promise for post-combustion flue gas carbon capture. These membranes are made up of thousands of tiny hollow fibres, which are more permeable to certain gases such as CO₂, but less to others like nitrogen (N₂). When flue gas is passed through the membrane, the CO₂ selectively diffuses through the fibres and can be captured for storage or use.

While hollow fibre membrane technology has shown great potential for carbon capture, scaling up this technology from laboratory-scale experiments to large-scale industrial applications presents several challenges. These challenges include the need for highly selective and durable membranes, efficient system design, and cost-effective operation.

In this on-going study, we aim to develop (1) high performance polymeric membranes to capture CO₂ from power plants at near ambient pressures (i.e., 1 - 2 bar) and (2) scale up and commercialize it to capture CO₂ from Singapore power plants, petrochemical and industrial plants. The newly developed hollow fiber membranes and pilot systems would ideally have a CO₂ permeance of 2000-3000 GPU and a CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 30-35.

The project not only integrates fundamental membrane studies with multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted experimental investigations but also includes scaling up, business development and commercialization. The success of this program will have an immediate and significant impact on the minimization of CO₂ emission in Singapore and bring the world to be more eco-friendly.