Improved Hydrogen Purification

Industrial hydrogen production relies primarily on natural gas and hydrocarbon feedstocks to drive the various reaction chemistries that lead to hydrogen generation. Carbon dioxide, the ultimate co-product when such feedstocks and processes are employed, necessarily becomes a major contaminant of the generated hydrogen. Thus, carbon dioxide isolation and removal is an important process step in the efficient, low cost purification and recovery of hydrogen from the intermediate reformed and synthesis gases. A new proprietary, chemically resistant and highly durable membrane developed in this project promises to improve the separation efficiency and to dramatically reduce energy requirements for the separation of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The proposed membrane and process also addresses the ease of isolating carbon dioxide for efficient capture and sequestration. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: Besides the hydrogen generation processes mentioned already, the new membrane promises to have broad application in the hydrogen economy, hydrogen processing, synthesis gas production, hydrotreating, and sulfur removal processes. Improvements in hydrogen purification and separation efficiencies and the ready isolation of a concentrated carbon dioxide co-product will have traceable, direct benefits in emissions reductions, energy independence, and carbon management.