In previous studies, the selectivity property of a porous stainless
steel cylindrical tube showed different filtration rates of pure carbon
dioxide (CO2) and of pure nitrogen (N2) because
of the effect of the dynamic boundary layer into the tube. In this
study, a binary mixture of CO2 and N2 is considered
under three different volumetric compositions (50/50%, 60/40%, and
70/30%) to evaluate the separation property of a porous stainless
steel tube (membrane effect). The pure gas permeability, mixture permeability,
ideal selectivity, and separation selectivity of this tube are determined
for a total mass flow rate ranging from 1 to 2.5 g·s–1 and for an inlet pressure varying from 2 to 3.5 bar accordingly.
The factors affecting the distribution of CO2 and N2 inside the porous tube are qualified. It is found that both
the ideal and separation selectivity values are close to each other
for a 50/50% composition, but the difference between the values increases
for different compositions because of the effects of the partial and
total pressures. Both ideal and separation selectivities decrease
with an increase in the CO2 concentration. The mixed gas
permeabilities of both gases vary in such a manner that the selectivity
(N2/CO2) increases along the length of the tube
for all the studied volumetric compositions. The concentration of
CO2 in the main flow decreases along the length of the
tube, whereas the concentration of N2 increases. These
findings will serve to design separation processes to be used in applications
such as fuel cells or regenerative cooling on board high-speed aircraft.