Method of determining remaining useful lifetime of membrane for separation process

A method, comprising:

• providing a gas mixture to a membrane separator comprising a membrane;
• separating the gas mixture into a first gas and a second gas using the membrane separator;
• measuring a performance characteristic of one or more of the gas mixture, the first gas, or the second gas, the membrane performance characteristic comprising at least one of a gas composition, a gas temperature, a gas flow rate, a thermodynamic state of a chemical in the permeate or non-permeate stream, or ratios thereof;
• measuring a composition of the gas mixture, the first gas, and the second gas;
• determining a thermodynamic state of the gas mixture;
• determining a current state of the membrane based on the performance characteristics and compositions, and the thermodynamic state, using a physical model;
• predicting a future state of the membrane using a membrane evolution model selected based on the measured performance characteristic;
• comparing the predicted future state of the membrane to a standard;
• and
• adjusting one of the performance characteristics, or the thermodynamic state, of the gas mixture based on the comparison.

A method, comprising:

• providing a gas mixture to a membrane separator comprising a membrane;
• separating the gas mixture into a first gas and a second gas using the membrane separator;
• measuring a flowrate, temperature, pressure, and composition of one or more of the gas mixture, the first gas, or the second gas;
• determining a thermodynamic state of the gas mixture;
• determining a current membrane performance characteristic based on the flowrates, temperatures, pressures, compositions, and thermodynamic state, using a physical model, the current membrane performance characteristic comprising at least one of a gas composition, a gas temperature, a gas flow rate, a thermodynamic state of a chemical in the permeate or non-permeate stream, or ratios thereof;
• predicting a future membrane performance characteristic using a membrane evolution model selected based on the current membrane performance characteristic, the future membrane performance characteristic comprising at least one of a gas composition, a gas temperature, a gas flow rate, a thermodynamic state of a chemical in the permeate or non-permeate stream, or ratios thereof;
• comparing the predicted future membrane performance characteristic to a standard;
• and
• adjusting one of the flowrates, temperatures, pressures, compositions, or the thermodynamic state of the gas mixture based on the comparison.