Hydrogen separation using palladium‐based membranes: Assessment of<scp>H<sub>2</sub></scp>separation in a catalytic plasma membrane reactor
Mostafa El‐Shafie
Abstract
This study describes the fundamentals of hydrogen-separation membranes and H2 separation modeling through Pd-based membranes. Furthermore, an assessment of hydrogen separation through a Pd-Cu 40% membrane was performed using two different feed gas concentrations (99.999% H2 and 75% H2−25% N2) and a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma in a cylindrical type reactor (CTR). The plasma was applied by combining zeolite catalyst materials (SA-600A and 330-HUDIA) in two different hydrogen concentration experiments. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that the SA-600A zeolite exhibited a larger surface area than the 330-HUDIA zeolite. This may have increased the ability of the former material to diffuse hydrogen molecules. The hydrogen separation results showed that N2 gas has a positive effect on separation through a Pd-Cu membrane. The most interesting result from the plasma-catalyst experiment was that the CTR H2 permeation rate reached a maximum of 100% at most input gas flow rates. The maximum plasma-catalyst energy efficiencies at feed gas concentrations of 99.999% and 75% H2-25% N2 were 81% and 54%, respectively. The hydrogen permeability results from the SA-600A zeolite were better than those produced using 330-HUDIA at a H2 input flow rate of 5 L/min.