Gas absorption enhancement in hollow fiber membrane contactors using nanofluids: Modeling and simulation

In this article, a comprehensive 2D mathematical model has been developed to simulate process intensification of carbon dioxide absorption in the presence of nanoparticles in hollow fiber membrane contactors (HFMCs). The influences of nanoparticle were taken into account considering Brownian motion and Grazing effect as dominant phenomena of mass-transfer enhancement in nanofluids. The obtained simulation results were validated against experimental data reported in the literature and excellent agreement was obtained. It was found that by adding 0.05 wt % silica nanoparticles, the absorption rate could be enhanced by 16%, while the corresponding value is 32% for CNT nanoparticles. High adsorption and hydrophobicity of CNT nanoparticles relative to silica nanoparticles lead to better performance of gas absorption processes. An optimum value for nanoparticle concentration was found in which the gas absorption rate could be maximized. This value for silica and CNT nanoparticles was 0.03 wt %. Finally, it was found that using nanoparticles with appropriate concentration can enhance HFMCs performance and intensify the gas absorption processes.