Helium and Hydrogen Mixed Gas Separator

This product innovation is directed toward separating hydrogen from helium gas mixtures using a micro-channel separation unit with thin walls of a palladium-silver alloy. The micro-channels are produced in a size range of 100-200 microns such that the boundary layer thickness inside is drastically reduced when mixtures of helium and hydrogen gas flow through the channels. This thin boundary layer enhances the thermal and mass transport fluxes to the channel walls increasing the separation rate. With this micro-channel approach, the membrane surface area to volume ratio is maximized reducing the operating costs and capital costs for the unit.The present cryogenic separation process for this helium-hydrogen gas mixture is energy intensive, and newer demonstrations using proton-exchange membrane based separation processes are difficult and costly to scale to the size needed to process this large quantity of gas. Accordingly, Reactive Innovations is developing a metal membrane based micro-channel separation unit that is readily scalable and inexpensive to produce and operate. The micro-channel separation technology maximizes the separation area per unit volume giving enhanced thermal and mass fluxes to separate hydrogen from the helium mixture.