Membrane separation-based oxy-combustion is a promising technology for efficient combustion of coal-containing fuels due to the opportunity to simultaneously capture CO₂from the resulting flue gases. The conditions of oxygen combustion require a special design of ceramic membranes because of the high pressure and high temperatures applied. Therefore, a planar membrane module was designed with a 4-end mode configuration using asymmetrical membranes La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O_3-δ. FEM and CFD simulations were performed to develop the internal channel structure of the membranes, which can withstand a pressure of 5 bar applied on the feed side, while achieving 27% O₂concentration in the sweep gas, such as CO₂, and an 86% oxygen recovery from the feed gas.

Membrane components have a symmetrical design which makes them easily scalable. The membranes were fabricated by optimising a chain process from powders to the final component; the latter is made up of a dense membrane layer 20 μm thick, a substrate with 38% porosity, an internal channel structure and a thin active porous layer (3-5 μm). Special emphasis was placed on the scalability of the fabrication process so as to ensure that it can also be realised on an industrial scale. The chain process is also applicable to other materials for any application of interest. Finally, the reproducibility of the process was successfully demonstrated by fabricating membrane components 100 mm long and 70 mm wide.