An Effective Iterative Algorithm for Modeling of Multicomponent Gas Separation in a Countercurrent Membrane Permeator

 A model is developed for separation of multicomponent gas mixtures in a countercurrent hollow fiber membrane module. While the model’s solution in countercurrent module usually involves in a time consuming iterative procedure, a proper initial guess is proposed for beginning the calculation and a simple procedure is introduced for correcting the guesses, hereby the CPU time is decreased essentially. The model’s predictions are compared with the experimental data and a good agreement is achieved. By using data taken from a LAB unit in Isfahan, the proposed model is applied to investigate the feasibility of membrane process for hydrogen separation in this unit. It is revealed that a high hydrogen purity and recovery could be achieved in the permeate stream, while the required area increases at higher stage cut or higher permeate pressure.