Hybrid CO2 capture processes consisting of membranes: A technical and techno-economic review

Because of the greenhouse effect, there is a pressing need to restrict and reduce CO2 emissions. Post-combustion capture technology is a type of widely used technologies for CO2 capture. Compared to the standalone CO2 capture processes such as absorption and cryogenic separation, hybrid CO2 capture processes demonstrate improved separation efficiency and capacity for the overall performance. Membrane separation is a great candidate for process hybridization with other CO2 capture processes. Three categories of hybrid processes consisting of membrane technology, i.e., in-series, parallel and integrated configurations, have been applied for CO2 capture. This paper mainly reviews the recent research progresses on the process development as well as the techno-economic analyses of the hybrid processes corresponding to these configurations. Furthermore, the perspectives on future directions of hybrid CO2 capture processes are discussed to facilitate its research and practical applications.