Process Simulation Research of CH4/N2 Separation

The separation energy consumption of methane and nitrogen mixture of 3 kinds of typical method, Cryogenic (DC), Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) and Membrane (MEM), was calculated by Aspen Plus in this paper. The result shows that at 35°C, the ratio of methane and nitrogen is 1, the separation energy consumption of 3 methods are 5.2, 3.6 and 2.6×104kJ/kmol, respectively. The ratio of calculated energy consumption to theoretical consumption is 2.3, 1.6 and 1.2, the energy consumption of DC is the highest, then PSA, MEM is lowest. This work is to give some reference for the selection of CH4/N2 separation.