Investigation of CO removal from the Exhaust Diesel Engine through a Hollow Fiber Membrane Module

The population and economy are expanding, as is the demand for energy in numerous industries. However, most energy sources still originate from non-renewable sources, particularly in the transportation and industrial sectors. As a result, there will be an increase in the generation of exhaust emissions, such as carbon monoxide (CO). One of the primary sources of these dangerous substances is diesel fuel. Burning the diesel fuel can release harmful environmental pollutants and affect human health. To effectively and affordably improve air quality, gas removal technology is required. A hollow membrane module can be employed due to its large contact area and small footprint. This study focuses on the absorption of diesel engine exhaust gas, mainly CO, with the use of absorbent solutions containing a mixture of copper (II) chloride (CuCl2) and triethylamine (TEA) solutions, and sodium chlorate (NaClO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions. Meanwhile, a polysulfone hollow fiber membrane module is utilized as a bubble reactor to remove the gas pollutants. Experimental results show that increasing the feed gas flow rate decreases the CO removal efficiency but relatively increases the flux and CO loading. Furthermore, as the absorbent concentration increases (CuCl2 or NaClO3), the CO removal efficiency and flux are relatively constant for CuCl2 and slightly increase for NaClO3. Meanwhile, the CO loading decreases drastically for both absorbent mixtures at low concentrations (below 0.1M) and is relatively constant afterward.