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Production of Hydrogen from Renewable Resources pp 315–338Cite as

Separation and Purification of Hydrogen Using CO2-Selective Facilitated Transport Membranes

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Part of the book series: Biofuels and Biorefineries ((BIOBIO,volume 5))

Abstract

A crucial step for the use of hydrogen as a clean, renewable source of energy towards a “hydrogen economy” is the purification of hydrogen from other gaseous compounds, mainly carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. This chapter reviews the carbon dioxide- and hydrogen sulfide-selective facilitated transport membranes for low-pressure and high-pressure applications. Hydrophilic polymeric materials have been investigated that are blended with amino acid salts and polyamines as mobile and fixed-site CO2 carriers, respectively.

For low-pressure applications (1–2 atm), novel facilitated transport membranes have been synthesized in the lab scale containing sterically hindered amines as the CO2 carries in the cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol networks. The membranes have demonstrated high CO2 permeability and high CO2/H2 selectivities. For high-pressure applications (15–30 atm), an improved stability of the membranes was demonstrated by incorporating fumed silica and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) to reinforce the mechanical strength of the polymer matrix.

The facilitated transport membranes highlighted in this work are first of a kind demonstrating the steric hindrance effect of the amine carriers and the presence of carbon nanotubes in enhancing the CO2 transport capacity and long-term stability. These membranes have shown exceptional potential for industrial applications with enhanced H2 recovery, including low-pressure H2 purification for fuel cells and high-pressure syngas purification in an IGCC power plant or steam reforming of hydrocarbons.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to gratefully acknowledge the Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (DE-FE0007632), the Office of Naval Research/DJW Technology (N00014-14-C-098), the National Science Foundation (CBET 1033131 and IIP 1127812), and the Ohio Development Services Agency (OOE-CDO-D-13-05) for their financial support of the results published in this work. This work was partly supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-FE0007632 with substantial involvement of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University, 151 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210-1350, USA

    Varun Vakharia & W. S. Winston Ho

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, 151 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210-1350, USA

    W. S. Winston Ho

Authors
  1. Varun Vakharia
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Correspondence to W. S. Winston Ho .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

    Zhen Fang

  2. Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Richard L. Smith, Jr.

  3. Nankai University, Tianjin, China

    Xinhua Qi

Nomenclature

Nomenclature

J :

Steady-state permeation flux (cm3 (STP)/(cm2 s))

ℓ:

Membrane thickness (cm)

P :

Permeability (Barrer)

p :

Pressure (cmHg)

pf :

Feed side pressure (cmHg)

ps :

Sweep (permeate) side pressure (cmHg)

Δp :

Pressure difference between the feed and permeate sides (cmHg)

x :

Retentate molar fraction

y :

Permeate molar fraction

D :

Diffusion coefficient

S :

Solubility

1.1 Greek Letter

α :

Selectivity

1.2 Subscripts

i, j :

Species

1.3 Abbreviations

COE:

Cost of electricity

IGCC:

Integrated gasification combined cycle

MWNT:

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes

PEMFC:

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell

PSA:

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA)

SMR:

Steam methane reforming

WGS:

Water-gas shift

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Vakharia, V., Ho, W.S.W. (2015). Separation and Purification of Hydrogen Using CO2-Selective Facilitated Transport Membranes. In: Fang, Z., Smith, Jr., R., Qi, X. (eds) Production of Hydrogen from Renewable Resources. Biofuels and Biorefineries, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7330-0_11

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