SBIR Phase I: A Membrane Process to Recover Hydrogen from Waste Gas Streams

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the incorporation of a carbon dioxide/hydrogen separating membrane unit into steam reformer pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) hydrogen plants. This membrane unit will increase the amount of hydrogen produced by a reformer PSA plant by 10-20%. The goals of the project are to optimize and produce a new type of composite membrane in bench-scale quantities and to fabricate bench-scale modules containing this membrane. The modules will be evaluated with model feed gas mixtures representative of those generated in reformer PSA plants. The experimental data obtained will be incorporated into a computer simulation of the process to determine the technical and commercial potential of the process. Based on this work, the overall feasibility and advantages of applying the technology to reformer PSA operations will be assessed. The initial target of the carbon dioxide/hydrogen membrane process to be developed is PSA tail gas. More than 300 large steam reformer PSA plants are operating in U.S. refineries and petrochemical plants. All of these plants can potentially be retrofitted with this new membrane technology. Longer-term, several other large potential applications such as hydrogen production for fuel cells exist