The absorption efficiency of CO2 in ethanolamine (MEA) solvent system of a parallel-plate membrane contactor with both concurrent- and countercurrent-flow operations was investigated theoretically and experimentally. A two-dimensional modeling equation for predicting the concentration distribution and total absorption rate was developed, and the analytical solution for the resultant partial differential equations is obtained using the separated variables method with an orthogonal expansion technique. The theoretical predictions of the absorption efficiency, total absorption rate, average Sherwood number and concentration distributions were presented graphically with the mass-transfer Graetz number, inlet CO2 concentration, and both gas feed and absorbent flow rates as parameters.
