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Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering >> 2021, Volume 15, Issue 3 doi: 10.1007/s11705-020-1983-0

The opportunity of membrane technology for hydrogen purification in the power to hydrogen (P2H) roadmap: a review

. Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.. Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3086, Australia.. Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Hub for Medicinal Agriculture, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3086, Australia.. Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan.. Fluid Science & Resources Division, Department of Chemical Engineering, the University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia

Received: 2020-10-29 Accepted: 2020-12-21 Available online: 2020-12-21

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Abstract

The global energy market is in a transition towards low carbon fuel systems to ensure the sustainable development of our society and economy. This can be achieved by converting the surplus renewable energy into hydrogen gas. The injection of hydrogen (≤10% v/v) in the existing natural gas pipelines is demonstrated to have negligible effects on the pipelines and is a promising solution for hydrogen transportation and storage if the end-user purification technologies for hydrogen recovery from hydrogen enriched natural gas (HENG) are in place. In this review, promising membrane technologies for hydrogen separation is revisited and presented. Dense metallic membranes are highlighted with the ability of producing 99.9999999% (v/v) purity hydrogen product. However, high operating temperature (≥300 °C) incurs high energy penalty, thus, limits its application to hydrogen purification in the power to hydrogen roadmap. Polymeric membranes are a promising candidate for hydrogen separation with its commercial readiness. However, further investigation in the enhancement of H /CH selectivity is crucial to improve the separation performance. The potential impacts of impurities in HENG on membrane performance are also discussed. The research and development outlook are presented, highlighting the essence of upscaling the membrane separation processes and the integration of membrane technology with pressure swing adsorption technology.

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