Constant concentration method of measuring hydrogen permeation from a hydrogen mixture with Pd membrane

Abstract

The conventional flow method of measuring hydrogen permeation flux was found to be inaccurate and inadequate to obtain a consistent value of hydrogen flux and permeance because of changing hydrogen concentration along the palladium membrane tube in a hydrogen mixture. We designed a new method in which the hydrogen concentration was kept constant in the retentate. This constant concentration method was a more accurate measurement of hydrogen permeation flux in all of the possible hydrogen mixtures: H 2 + Y with Y = Ar, N 2 and CH 4 and various hydrogen concentrations under different pressure. Permselectivity of the hydrogen mixture was measured under this constant concentration method and was compared with both the conventional flow-through method and separate flow measurement of pure component gases. All three methods gave a different value of permselectivity for the same composite mixture. This method enables us to measure hydrogen flux and permeance accurately in the corresponding composition of the mixture. We found that even with the same partial hydrogen pressure differential for Sieverts’ equation, the hydrogen flux and permeance decreased dramatically with the lowering of hydrogen concentration in the feed.