Development of an Electrochemical Separator + Compressor

With the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and a global requirement for the development of a sustainable economy, hydrogen-based energy is becoming increasingly important. Production, purification, and compression of hydrogen represent key technical challenges for the implementation of a hydrogen economy, especially in the transportation sector. These processes must be robust, efficient, and cost effective in order to have value in meeting our growing energy needs. This project seeks to address high purity/high pressure hydrogen needs by developing an efficient, low-cost technology that combines a solid state electrochemical hydrogen separator and a compressor (EHS+C). Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee:The EHS+C technology should enable an efficient, distributed hydrogen fueling infrastructure for the transportation sector. It also offers the opportunity to provide distributed generation and storage of high-pressure high-purity hydrogen in commercial markets by leveraging the hydrogen generation capability of commercial fuel cell systems currently being deployed