Optimizing Al2O3 Ceramic Membrane Heat Exchangers for Enhanced Waste Heat Recovery in MEA-Based CO2 Capture

High regeneration energy demand remains a critical barrier to the large-scale deployment of ethanolamine-based (MEA-based) CO₂ capture. This study adopts an Al₂O₃ ceramic-membrane heat exchanger (CMHE) to recover both sensible and latent heat from the stripped gas. Experiments confirm that heat and mass transfer within the CMHE follow a coupled mechanism in which capillary condensation governs trans-membrane water transport, while heat conduction through the ceramic membrane dominates heat transfer, which accounts for more than 80%. Guided by this mechanism, systematic structural optimization was conducted. Alumina was identified as the optimal heat exchanger material due to its combined porosity, thermal conductivity, and corrosion resistance. Among the tested pore sizes, CMHE-4 produces the strongest capillary-condensation enhancement, yielding a heat recovery flux (<i>q</i> value) of up to 38.8 MJ/(m² h), which is 4.3% and 304% higher than those of the stainless steel heat exchanger and plastic heat exchanger, respectively. In addition, Length-dependent analyses reveal an inherent trade-off: shorter modules achieved higher <i>q</i> (e.g., 14-42% greater for 200-mm vs. 300-mm CMHE-4), whereas longer modules provide greater total recovered heat (<i>Q</i>). Scale-up experiments demonstrated pronounced non-linear performance amplification, with a 4 times area increase boosting <i>q</i> by only 1.26 times under constant pressure. The techno-economic assessment indicates a simple payback period of ~2.5 months and a significant reduction in net capture cost. Overall, this work establishes key design parameters, validates the governing transport mechanism, and provides a practical, economically grounded framework for implementing high-efficiency CMHEs in MEA-based CO₂ capture.