Medium-pressure clathrate hydrate/membrane hybrid process for postcombustion capture of carbon dioxide.

This study presents a medium-pressure CO2 capture process based on hydrate crystallization in the presence of tetrahydrofuran (THF). THF reduces the incipient equilibrium hydrate formation conditions from a CO2/N2 gas mixture. Relevant thermodynamic data at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mol % THF were obtained and reported. In addition, the kinetics of hydrate formation from the CO2/N2/ THF system as well as the CO2 recovery and separation efficiency were also determined experimentally at 273.75 K. The above data were utilized to develop the block flow diagram of the proposed process. The process involves three hydrate stages coupled with a membrane-based gas separation process. The there hydrate stages operate at 2.5 MPa and 273.75 K. This operating pressure is substantially less than the pressure required in the absence of THF and hence the compression costs are reduced from 75 to 53% of the power produced for a typical 500 MW power plant.