Abstract
This paper investigates the influence of the support material and its thickness on the hydrogen flux in Palladium membranes in the presence of sweep gas in fluidized bed membrane reactors. The analysis is performed considering both ceramic and metallic supports with different properties. In general, ceramic supports are cheaper but suffer sealing problems, while metallic ones are more expensive but with much less sealing problems. Firstly, a preliminary analysis is performed to assess the impact of the support in the permeation flux, which shows that the membrane permeance can be halved when the H2 diffusion through the support is considered. The most relevant parameter which affects the permeation is the porosity over tortuosity ratio of the porous support. Afterward, the different supports are compared from an economic point of view when applied to a membrane reactor designed for 100 kg/day of hydrogen, using biogas as feedstock. The stainless steel supports have lower impact on the hydrogen permeation so the required membrane surface area is 2.6 m2 compared to 3.6 m2 of the best ceramic support. This ends up as 5.6 €/kg H2@20bar and 6.6 €/kg H2@700bar for the best stainless steel support, which is 3% lower than the price calculated for the best ceramic support.
Highlights
The development of innovative technologies based on renewable energy is becoming essential for a more sustainable future
H2@700bar for the best stainless steel support, which is 3% lower than the price calculated for the best ceramic support
About 96% of the hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels [2], mostly natural gas (NG) as feedstock accounting for 50% of the world hydrogen production, and only 3–4% is produced without using fossil fuels [3]
Summary
The development of innovative technologies based on renewable energy is becoming essential for a more sustainable future. Hydrogen is certainly the most popular because of the high energy density on mass base and the absence of CO2 emissions at the point of use. The hydrogen produced by fossil fuels cannot be considered CO2 neutral, as conventional hydrogen production plants emit large CO2 emissions into the atmosphere The production of H2 from renewables is usually performed via water electrolysis using the electricity generated by photovoltaic or wind power stations. The resulting price of H2 production is around 5 $/kg [2], above the target of 2.4 $/kg (original reference reports the cost in 2 €/kg [5]), and about three times the H2 cost from a large-scale steam reforming plant equal to
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