A NOVEL MEMBRANE REACTOR FOR DIRECT HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM COAL

Doong, Shain ; Ong, Estela ; Atroshenko, Mike ; Lau, Francis ; Roberts, Mike

Gas Technology Institute

关键词: Coal Gasification;    Hydrogen Production;    Perovskite;    Membranes;    08 Hydrogen;   

DOI  :  10.2172/831072
RP-ID  :  NONE
RP-ID  :  FC26-03NT41851
RP-ID  :  831072

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Gas Technology Institute is developing a novel concept of membrane gasifier for high efficiency, clean and low cost production of hydrogen from coal. The concept incorporates a hydrogen-selective membrane within a gasification reactor for direct extraction of hydrogen from coal-derived synthesis gases. The objective of this project is to determine the technical and economic feasibility of this concept by screening, testing and identifying potential candidate membranes under high temperature, high pressure, and harsh environments of the coal gasification conditions. The best performing membranes will be selected for preliminary reactor design and cost estimates. To evaluate the performances of the candidate membranes under the gasification conditions, a high temperature/high pressure hydrogen permeation unit has been constructed in this project. During this reporting period, the unit has been fully commissioned and is operational. The unit is capable of operating at temperatures up to 1100 C and pressures to 60 atm for evaluation of ceramic membranes such as mixed ionic conducting membrane. A double-seal technique has been developed and tested successfully to achieve leak-tight seal for the membranes. Initial data for a commercial Palladium-Gold membrane were obtained at temperatures to 450 C and pressures to 13 atm. Tests for the perovskite membranes are being performed and the results will be reported in the next quarter. A membrane gasification reactor model was developed to consider the H{sub 2} permeability of the membrane, the kinetics and the equilibriums of the gas phase reactions in the gasifier, the operating conditions and the configurations of the membrane reactor. The results show that the hydrogen production efficiency using the novel membrane gasification reactor concept can be increased by about 50% versus the conventional gasification process. This confirms the previous evaluation results from the thermodynamic equilibrium calculation. A rigorous model for hydrogen permeation through mixed proton-electron conducting ceramic membranes was also developed based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The results from the simulation work confirm that the hydrogen flux increases with increasing partial pressure of hydrogen. The presence of steam in the permeate side can have a small negative effect on the hydrogen flux, in the order of 10%. When the steam partial pressure is greater than 1 atm, the hydrogen flux becomes independent of the steam pressure.