Optimization analysis of hydrogen separation from an H2/CO2 gas mixture via a palladium membrane with a vacuum using response surface methodology

Abstract

This study uses a palladium membrane to separate hydrogen from an H2/CO2 (90/10 vol%) gas mixture. Three different operating parameters of temperature (320–380 °C), total pressure difference (2–3.5 atm), and vacuum degree (15–49 kPa) on hydrogen are taken into account, and the experiments are designed utilizing a central composite design (CCD). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is also used to analyze the importance and suitability of the operating factors. Both the H2 flux and CO2 (impurity) concentration on the permeate side are the targets in this study. The ANOVA results indicate that the influences of the three factors on the H2 flux follow the order of vacuum degree, temperature, and total pressure difference. However, for CO2 transport across the membrane, the parameters rank as total pressure difference > vacuum degree > temperature. The predictions of the maximum H2 flux and minimum CO2 concentration by the response surface methodology are close to those by experiments. The maximum H2 flux is 0.2163 mol s−1 m−2, occurring at 380 °C, 3.5 atm total pressure difference, and 49 kPa vacuum degree. Meanwhile, the minimum CO2 concentration in the permeate stream is t 643.58 ppm with the operations of 320 °C, 2 atm total pressure difference, and 15 kPa vacuum degree. The operation with a vacuum can significantly intensify H2 permeation, but it also facilitates CO2 diffusion across the Pd membrane. Therefore, a compromise between the H2 flux and the impurity in the treated gas should be taken into account, depending on the requirement of the gas product.