Hydrogen Separation from a Logistic-Fuel Reformate Stream

The deliverable of this Phase I proposal is the identification and design of a Pd-alloy membrane capable of an efficient hydrogen removal from reformate streams containing sulfur. The evaluation will be based on experimental data regarding short and long term membrane resistance to sulfur poisoning. P&E has the ability to incorporate an alloy material into its composite thin nanostructured membrane, which enables to drastically increase hydrogen throughput while at the same time reducing precious metal cost. This ability allows current proposal to focus primarily on alloys with the best sulfur resistance while hydrogen throughput and precious metal cost aspects can become secondary issues. A phase II of the current proposal will be a prototype demonstration of the capability of the hydrogen separator for logistic fuels containing sulfur. The findings on this prototype will be scalable for PEM fuel cells supplies ranging from Watts to megawatts.