Membrane Gas Separation for CO 2 Capture From Flue Gas: Materials, Modules, Processes, and Application Prospects for Coal‐Fired Power Plant Retrofitting

ABSTRACT As global climate change becomes increasingly severe, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies have emerged as a critical pathway toward achieving carbon neutrality. Flue gas CO 2 membrane separation technology has garnered widespread attention due to its merits of high efficiency, low energy consumption, and environmental friendliness. This paper systematically reviews and integrates the complete technological chain of flue gas CO 2 membrane separation, spanning from materials and modules to process design. It delves into the separation mechanisms and performance advancements of various high‐performance membrane materials, offers in‐depth analysis of the advantages, disadvantages, and pilot‐scale applications of different membrane module configurations, and focuses on comparing and optimizing multi‐stage membrane separation process flows and their energy consumption. Through comparative analysis of the current technological status, challenges, and development trends, alongside techno‐economic comparisons with technologies including composite amine solutions, the study finds that: High‐performance membrane materials such as polyvinyl amine (PVAm) composite membranes have achieved CO 2 permeance > 1000 GPU and CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of 50–200; membrane module packing density has been increased to 300–30,000 m 2 /m 3 . At the process level, multi‐stage membrane systems in industrial demonstrations have achieved CO 2 purity > 96% and recovery rate > 81%, with energy consumption capable of being reduced to 2.8–2.9 GJ/t CO 2 , approximately 30% lower than traditional amine‐based methods. Current challenges primarily lie in the long‐term stability of membrane materials, the cost of scaled‐up manufacturing, and system economics. Membrane separation technology is evolving from an “auxiliary process” to a “core solution,” well‐positioned to play a significant role in advancing the carbon neutrality transition.