Several processes have been developed in the recent past for CO2 capture from flue gases. Chemical absorption with amines in packed columns, however, can be considered as the most suitable option for retrofit in large scale power plants. Research in this field is mainly addressed to technological solutions which can reduce operational and plant costs, such as new solvent formulation and substitution of packed columns with membrane contactors. Specifically membrane contactors, if compared to packed columns, can provide higher interfacial area per unit volume, leading ultimately to higher process efficiencies and lower specific volumes. In this paper the results of laboratory tests aimed to assess the performance of hollow fiber membrane contactors for CO2 scrubbing from flue gas mixtures are presented.
