H2 Recovery Research Articles

Boosting hydrogen production from fermentation effluent of biomass wastes in cylindrical single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell.

Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) are considered as green technologies for H2 production with simultaneously wastewater treatment. Low H2 recovery and production rate are two key bottlenecks of MECs fed with real H2 fermentation effluent of biomass wastes. This work established a 1 L cylindrical single chamber MEC and enriched electroactive anodic biofilms from cow dung compost to overcome the bottlenecks. These MEC components (platinum-coated cylindrical titanium mesh cathode and cylindrical graphite felt anode) were arranged in a concentric configuration. A high H2 production rate of 6.26 ± 0.23 L L-1day-1 with H2 yield of 5.75 ± 0.16 L H2 L-1 fermentation effluent was achieved at 0.8V. The degradation of acetate and butyrate (main components of H2 fermentation effluent) could reach to 95.3 ± 2.1% and 78.4 ± 3.6%, respectively. The microbial community analysis for anode showed the abundance of Geobacter (22.6%), Syntrophomonas (8.7%), and Dysgonomonas (6.3%) which are responsible to complex substrate oxidation, electrical current generation, and H2 production. These results prove the feasibility of cylindrical single-chamber MEC for high H2 production rate and high acetate and butyrate removal from H2 fermentation effluent.

Process optimization, exergy efficiency, and life cycle energy consumption-GHG emissions of the propane-to-propylene with/without hydrogen production process

Propylene is an extreme important intermediate chemical and it is traditionally produced by steam cracking and fluid catalytic cracking of light oil in petrochemical plants, which will be gradually limited by the increasingly scare oil resources. The propylene production from propane is promising and expected to significantly reduce oil consumption. The process modeling and system analysis methods are used to investigate the techno-environmental performance of the propane dehydrogenation processes with poly-generation of propylene and hydrogen. The propane dehydrogenation processes have great energetic and environmental competitiveness compared with the coal-to-propylene. The propane consumption and direct CO2 emissions are only 1.19 t/t C3H6 and 415 kg/t C3H6. The exergy efficiency of the propane dehydrogenation process with no H2 production is calculated to be 77.61%, while that are as high as 78.68% and 80.73% for the propane dehydrogenation process with H2 recovery rates of 90% and 95%. After subtracting the hydrogen production part, the life cycle energy consumption and GHG emissions of 1 t propylene for the process with H2 recovery rate of 95% are 2.72% and 3.97% lower than that the process with no hydrogen production. This study confirms that development of propane-based propylene and hydrogen production is energetic and environmentally competitive and is therefore promising in olefins industry.

Rapid Conversion of Co2+ to Co3+ by Introducing Oxygen Vacancies in Co3O4 Nanowire Anodes for Nitrogen Removal with Highly Efficient H2 Recovery in Urine Treatment

Urine is a nitrogenous waste biomass but can be used as an appealing alternative substrate for H2 recovery. However, urine electrolysis suffers from sluggish kinetics and requires alkaline condition. Herein, we report a novel system to decompose urine to H2 and N2 under neutral conditions mediated by Cl• using oxygen-vacancy-rich Co3O4 nanowire (Ov-Co3O4) anodes and CuO nanowire cathodes. The Co2+/Co3+ cycle in Co3O4 activates Cl- in urine to Cl•, which rapidly and selectively converts urea into N2. Thus, electron transfer is boosted for H2 production, eliminating the kinetic limitations. The shuttle of Co2+ to Co3+ is the key step for Cl• yield, which is accelerated due to the introduction of Ov. Electrochemical analysis shows that Ov induces positive charge on the Co center; therefore, Co2+ loses electrons more efficiently to form Co3+. H2 production in this system reaches 716 μmol h-1, which is 320% that of non-radical-mediated urine electrolysis. The utilization of Ov-Co3O4 further enhances H2 generation, which is 490 and 210% those of noble Pt and RuO2, respectively. Moreover, urine is effectively degraded in 90 min with the total nitrogen removal of 95.4%, and N2 is the final product. This work provides new insights for efficient and low-cost recovery of H2 and urine remediation.

CFD modelling and simulation of a zeolite catalytic membrane reactor for low temperature water-gas shift reaction

In this work, a catalytic membrane reactor is proposed to couple water-gas shift reaction with selective separation of H2 product to improve the overall conversion. A 3D isothermal CFD model of this catalytic membrane reactor is developed with COMSOL Multiphysics software. The effects of reaction temperature, pressure, sweep gas flow rate and reactor geometry on CO conversion and H2 recovery are analysized in details. Based on the results, the coupling mechanism of reaction, and H2 permeation is proposed. It is found that that the catalyst bed could be divided into active and less-active volume and reducing less-active volume helps improve the utilization efficiency of catalyst. As a conclusion, H2 permeation directly affects H2 mole fraction in near-membrane area, and the effect is spreaded to the rest part to boost the local reaction rate. However, the effect is neutralized by the improved H2 production and permeation affecting volume is mainly less-active volume while active volume is hardly to be affected. Our study indicates that H2 permeation tends to deplete H2 fraction in catalyst volume but the consequent improved reaction rate acts as a resistance and tends to move back to a new steady state.

Pre-combustion CO2 capture using amine-based absorption process for blue H2 production from steam methane reformer

A novel pre-combustion CO2 capture process using methyl diethanolamine with piperazine (MDEA/PZ) was investigated for the production of blue H2 from a steam methane reformer (SMR). A sensitivity analysis was performed at various operating parameters (such as MDEA or PZ concentration, flash drum pressure, CO2 loading in a lean-amine solvent, and CO2 removal efficiency) using a validated rate-based model. The energy consumption to capture CO2 from SMR gas at 21 bar was evaluated, including the compression energy (up to 30 bar) for the dehydration of captured CO2. For 90% and 95% CO2 removal efficiency, reboiler duties were 1.318 GJ/tonCO2 and 1.364 GJ/tonCO2, and CO2 compression works were 11.673 kW/molCO2 and 11.615 kW/molCO2. The results indicated more than 40% lower reboiler duty than the energy consumption of conventional CO2 capture processes in post-combustion. Subsequently, artificial neural network model (ANN)-based optimization using the differential evolution method was performed. The developed ANN-based optimization suggested the possibility of additional 0.3 % reduction in the equivalent work at a low computational cost. The results indicated that the developed pre-combustion CO2 capture for a SMR was highly competitive in industrial applications. Moreover, the H2 mixture produced at 21 bar is beneficial for a H2 recovery unit because of no need for additional compression energy. Therefore, the MDEA/PZ-based absorption process can effectively contribute to centralized or semi-central blue H2 production from a SMR. This study provides a guideline for the feasible optimization and control of the CO2 absorption process at high feed pressures.

Accelerated organic pollutants mineralization in interlayer confined single Pt atom photocatalyst for hydrogen recovery

Photocatalytic H2 recovery from organic wastewater degradation has been considered as a promising way to alleviate the energy shortage and to deal with environmental pollution. However, the achievement of H2 production from organic pollutants mineralization still remains a huge challenge. Herein, a novel solar energy trigged water-energy-system over Pt single atom catalyst (confined by the interlayer subnanospace of carbon nitride, PtSA/g-C3N4) is proposed, exhibiting remarkable photocatalytic performance toward organic pollutants degradation coupled with hydrogen generation. We found that the well confined interlayer environment not only reduces the H2 evolution energy barrier to accelerate H2 evolution, but also blocks the introduced O2 accessing the interlayer confined Pt atoms. Furthermore, the introduced O2 could be activated by the surface layers of carbon nitride, which accelerates the mineralization of hole-oxidized pollutants into H2O and CO2. As a result, PtSA/g-C3N4 exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity toward H2 production coupled with p-chlorophenol mineralization, where more than 9 μmol of H2 is generated with the total organic carbon removal reaches 70% within 4 h photocatalysis. The conceptual study shown here may offer new viewpoints in designing high-efficient photocatalyst for environmental related applications.

Optimization and improvement of a conventional tri-reforming reactor to an energy efficient membrane reactor for hydrogen production

This study represents a numerical investigation of methane tri-reforming process with full computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in a conventional and a novel membrane fixed-bed reactor. A 2-D non-isothermal axisymmetric model is stablished to analyze the influence of relevant parameters. Three single objective optimization are conducted to maximize the H2 purity, energy efficiency and CO2 conversion, individually. The decision variables are the molar ratios of CO2/CH4, H2O/CH4 and O2/CH4 and the reactor inlet temperature. The optimization results indicate that the maximum value of energy efficiency in the conventional reactor is 73.29%. Moreover, when the H2 purity is maximum, the energy efficiency is almost 2% lower than its maximum value. Therefore, the novel membrane reactor is simulated using the first optimal conditions to achieve an energy efficient process for H2 production. A “hot-spot”, which is beneficial for the high endothermic reactions, is observed near the reactor entrance. It is proved that the hotter and greater “hot-spot” is in favor of the H2 production and energy efficiency. The counter-current configuration is more efficient due to its higher “hot-spot”. Finally, it is found that as the sweep gas velocity increases, the H2 purity and H2 recovery increase due to the “hot-spot” increment.

Tailor-Made Modification of Commercial Ceramic Membranes for Environmental and Energy-Oriented Gas Separation Applications.

Ceramic membranes have been considered as potential candidates for several gas separation processes of industrial interest, due to their increased thermal and chemical stability compared to polymeric ones. In the present study, commercial Hybrid Silica (HybSi®) membranes have been evaluated and modified accordingly, to enhance their gas separation performance for targeted applications, including CO2 removal from flue gas and H2 recovery from hydrogen-containing natural gas streams. The developed membranes have been characterized before and after modification by relative permeability, single gas permeation, and equimolar separation tests of the respective gas mixtures. The modification procedures, involving in situ chemical vapor deposition and superficial functionalization, aim for precise control of the membranes’ pore size and surface chemistry. High performance membranes have been successfully developed, presenting an increase in H2/CH4 permselectivity from 12.8 to 45.6 at 250 °C. Ultimately, the modified HybSi® membrane exhibits a promising separation performance at 250 °C, and 5 bar feed pressure, obtaining above 92% H2 purity in the product stream combined with a notable H2 recovery of 65%, which can be further improved if a vacuum is applied on the permeate side, leading to 94.3% H2 purity and 69% H2 recovery.

Review of Polybed pressure swing adsorption for hydrogen purification

Hydrogen (H2) will play a key role in the future low-carbon energy society. The industrial production of hydrogen involves chemical reactions and purification steps. Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) is a versatile process able to produce ultrapure hydrogen (99.99+%) from various gas mixtures, resulting in the most widespread purification technology worldwide. In particular, the Polybed PSA system, having more than six beds and a complex cycle configuration, has proven to maximize H2 recovery and H2 throughput, exceeding 90% and 240 MMSCFD (265,000 Nm3 h−1) per single train, respectively. This paper systematically reviews the Polybed H2 PSA process for the first time, highlighting the latest technical advances and discussing its optimal integration in industrial clusters. A bespoke Polybed PSA process designed for simultaneous production of high-purity hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) is also reviewed in light of the recent international directives aimed to reduce CO2 emissions and produce blue hydrogen.

Flowsheet analysis of gasification-synthesis-refining for sustainable aviation fuel production from invasive alien plants

The study assessed the potential for producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from invasive alien plants (IAPs), which threaten indigenous biodiversity and water resources. Flowsheet analysis of various gasification-Fischer-Tropsch and refining (GFT-R) scenarios using Aspen Plus was followed by economic models, to calculate the minimum product prices. When comparing low-pressure, high-pressure gasification, and combined systems; a similar minimum syncrude selling price (MSSP) of 284 US$/bbl was attained (±1%). However, high-pressure gasification was most efficient at 49%. When considering integrated refining, scaling the feedstock from 38 to 114 tonne/h decreased process costs by 36%, resulting in a minimum aviation fuel selling prices (MAFSP) of 2.14 US$/L. Including alcohol and H2 recovery from FT side-streams may reduce the MAFSP to 2.05 US$/L. Assuming a SAF premium of 2.2 US$/L allowed for biomass to be delivered at factory gate for as high as 96 U$/tonne. The feasibility of co-processing hydrotreated syncrude in a conventional oil refinery was also investigated by comparing the gross product worth (GPW) of syncrude/crude oil blend to the MSSP. Co-processing was not economically viable as the GPW of the blend was only a 3rd of the MSSP. Thus, conventional refineries must be modified to accommodate syncrude.

Modeling dark fermentation of cheese whey for H2 and n-butyrate production considering the chain elongation perspective

This study aimed to develop and compare different Anaerobic Digestion Model no. 1 extensions to represent hydrogen and n-butyrate synthesis (ADM-CE). For developed models' calibration, experimental data were gathered from a previous study investigating dark fermentative H2 production from cheese whey in mesophilic batch mode. The Markov chain Monte Carlo method was applied to determine free parameters values under limited iterations until reaching convergence assisted by Geweke's diagnostic. Each developed model considered different aspects of investigation such as: pH inhibition, phase transfer limitation mechanisms, MCMC sample sizes and approaches, competitive inhibition, hydrolysis step and chain elongation biomass discretization. The estimation of all parameters showed upright MCMC. Among the proposed models, the ADM-CE could predict about 73% accumulated H2 and 87% of total n-butyrate obtained experimentally. In effect, the consideration of self-regulation mechanism between fermentative organisms represents a possibility not only for H2 recovery, but also a high prospect for n-butyrate improvement.

Scaling analysis of hydrogen flow with carbon dioxide cushion gas in subsurface heterogeneous porous media

Subsurface hydrogen (H2) storage in geological formations is of growing interest for decarbonization. However, there is a knowledge gap in understanding the multiphase flow involved in this process, which can have a significant impact on the recovery performance of H2. Therefore, a full-compositional modeling study was conducted to analyze potential issues and to understand the fundamental hydrodynamic mechanisms of H2 storage. We performed a range of 2D vertical simulations at the decametre scale with a very fine cell size (0.1 m) to observe the detailed flow behaviour of H2 with carbon dioxide (CO2) as cushion gas in various flow regimes. Issues such as viscous instability, capillary bypassing, gas trapping and gravity segregation are analysed here. To generalize our calculations, we have validated and applied the scaling theory in the context of subsurface H2 storage. Since this study is focused on the hydrodynamic behaviour, three dimensionless groups, including aspect factor, capillary/viscous ratio and gravity/viscous ratio were identified to correlate recovery performance between various scales in a fixed heterogeneous system. It was found that H2 could infiltrate the cushion gas in the proximity of the injectors, meaning that CO2 is not displaced away from the injectors in a piston-like fashion. As a result, the purity of the back produced H2 is much degraded, particularly in a viscous-dominated scenario. On the other hand, the injected H2 mostly accumulates at the top forming a highly restricted mixing zone with CO2 in the gravity-dominated case. The recovery performance is therefore much improved in this case. Although the gas distribution can be significantly altered by capillary forces leading to bypassed zones, the recovery performance of H2 is hardly influenced. This is because the back-produced H2 recovery is not dependent on the sweep efficiency of the gas. H2 can be back produced following the same paths which were formed during injection.

Measurement of the laminar burning velocity and kinetics study of the importance of the hydrogen recovery mechanism of ammonia/hydrogen/air premixed flames

The application of ammonia (NH3) blended with hydrogen (H2) as a fuel in combustion systems is a practical approach to decarbonise the energy sector, and the combustion of the fuel at rich conditions is relevant in emissions control through rich-lean combustion. However, the chemistry of rich NH3/H2 flames at high pressure, and the interaction between NH3 and H2 still need to be clarified. Therefore, the present study focuses on the chemical kinetics of NH3/H2/air flames at rich conditions and elevated pressures. To validate chemical kinetics in the literature, the laminar burning velocity of NH3/H2/Air premixed flames were measured at 0.1 and 0.5 MPa and equivalence ratios up to 1.8. The results show that the seven kinetics mechanisms studied could not satisfactorily predict the measurements at fuel-rich conditions and elevated pressure. The kinetics mechanism by Han et al. was optimized, leading to a new detailed kinetics, which can be reduced to 26 species and 119 reactions and satisfactorily predicts the present measurements and those in the literature. Analysis of the chemistry of NH3/H2 flames using the new mechanism shows NH3 and H2 kinetics are strongly coupled through a H2 decomposition/recovery mechanism, here named H2 recovery mechanism, which is important in modelling the burning velocity of the flame at fuel-rich conditions. The burned gas Markstein length was also extracted from the measured flame speed and its behaviour was studied using theoretical correlations.

Exploring the Thermodynamic Limits of Enhanced H2 Recovery With Inherent Carbon Removal From Low Value Aqueous Biomass Oxygenate Precursors

Rational integration of chemical pathways at the molecular scale to direct thermodynamically favorable enhanced H2 production with inherent carbon removal from low-value substrates can be guided by exploring the thermodynamic limits of feasibility. The substrates of interest are biomass oxygenates that are water-soluble and uneconomical for separation from water. In this study, we investigate the thermodynamic feasibility of recovering H2 with inherent carbon removal from biomass oxygenates such as ethanol, methanol, glycerol, ethylene glycol, acetone, and acetic acid. The influence of biomass oxygenate-to-water ratios, reaction temperature of 150°C–325°C, and CaO or Ca(OH)2 as the alkalinity source on the yields of H2, CH4, CO2, and Ca-carbonate are investigated. By maintaining the fluids in the aqueous phase under pressure, energy needs associated with vaporization are circumvented. The hypothesis that enhanced alkalinity favors the preferential formation of CO (precursor for CO2 formation) over CH4 and aids the formation of calcium carbonate is investigated. The findings from these studies inform the feasibility, design of experiments, and the tuning of reaction conditions for enhanced H2 recovery with inherent carbon removal from biomass oxygenate sources.

Dynamic behaviour of integrated chemical looping process with pressure swing adsorption in small scale on-site H2 and pure CO2 production

The design of a fully integrated Chemical looping reforming (CLR), single adiabatic water gas shift reactor (WGSR) and Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) operated under dynamic conditions for small scale H2 generation with inherent pure CO2 production is carried out. The dynamically operated packed bed reactors taking part in the chemical looping process have been modelled, designed and simulated to operate with transient feeds from an integrated PSA unit used for the production of 130 Nm3/h of pure H2 (99.9999% purity). As by-product, 51 Nm3/h of pure CO2 (>98.8% purity) is also produced. A rapid cycle 8-bed configuration increases the H2 recovery by 4% whilst reducing the tail gas buffer tank volume requirement by 44%. The effect of the PSA dynamic tail gas composition used as fuel for the CLR reduction reactor stage was found negligible regarding the continuity of the process and the performance of the plant, as it affected only the reduction outlet gas composition profile but had little effect on the reactor bed temperature profile. With respect to the design of the chemical looping reactor beds, an analysis has been performed on the effect of heat losses showing that at higher heat transfer coefficient (U = 5.0 W∙m−2∙K−1) CH4 conversion decreased significantly (≈90% compared to adiabatic operation), therefore a different strategy was implemented. The overall study demonstrates the process design feasibility for producing blue H2 or renewable H2 from methane/bio-methane in decentralised and modular units.

Hydrogen permeation in a palladium membrane tube: Impacts of outlet and vacuum degree

Palladium (Pd) membranes are a crucial device for separating hydrogen and are usually operated at normal pressure on the permeate side with a single outlet. Instead of these common operating conditions, the difference between using a double outlet and a single outlet is studied. Four different vacuum degrees (15–60 kPa) are applied on the permeate side, and the results are compared with the non-vacuum operations. Situations under the vacuum and the effects of temperatures (300–400 °C) on H2 permeation are discussed. Finally, the influences of different feed gas mixtures (H2/N2, H2/CO2, and H2/CO) on the Pd membrane performance are investigated. The results show that there is no difference in H2 permeation impact the single outlet and the double outlet on the permeate side. When a vacuum is imposed on the permeate side, the H2 permeation rate and H2 recovery are efficiently intensified, that is, when the pressure difference is 9 atm, they increase from 73.21 to 84.51% and from 0.0035378 to 0.0040808 mol∙s−1, respectively. Moreover, the H2 recovery can be improved to up to 68.44% under a vacuum degree of 60 kPa. At a given Reynolds number, an increase in temperature increases the H2 permeation rate but lowers its recovery, stemming from more H2 in the feed gas. This study also investigates the feed gas of H2/N2 under a vacuum to provide a useful insight into H2 production and separation from ammonia, and the results are compared with two different feed gases of H2/CO2 and H2/CO mixtures. The results suggest that the impurities (i.e., N2, CO2, and CO) have a negative influence on the Pd membrane, which causes the H2 permeation rate to decrease, and the effect of N2 is the least significant compared to the other two.

A new energy efficient process for hydrogen purification using ZIF-8/glycol–water slurry: Experimental study and process modeling

Effective recovery of hydrogen from refinery off-gas and coke oven gas, in which hydrogen and methane are key components, is increasingly important for the development of hydrogen energy. In this paper, we introduced a new energy efficient process for hydrogen purification from CH4/H2 mixture. Firstly, we conducted a phase equilibrium experimental study for CH4/H2 in zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8)/glycol–water slurry. The simple absorption and desorption configuration is adopted for the continuous separation of CH4/H2 using ZIF-8/glycol–water slurry. The multi-stage pseudo-absorption modeling approach was introduced for the modeling and simulation of the absorption–adsorption and desorption columns via using multiple flash modules in Aspen Plus. The binary interaction parameters in the thermodynamic model were fitted by experimental data within an acceptable error (4.93%). The operating conditions (i.e., the number of theoretical stages, feed stage, flash pressure, and desorption pressure) were determined to increase H2 concentration in product and H2 recovery ratio. The energy performance of the process was also evaluated. Given the feed gas contains 50 mol% H2, the gas–slurry volume ratio of 43.27 is required to produce 95 mol% H2 with a high recovery of 97.94%. The total energy consumption per unit volume of product is 0.06254 kW·h/Nm3. Results indicate that the hybrid absorption-adsorption process is a promising energy efficient technique to separate CH4/H2 in the future.

Simulation of 12-bed vacuum pressure-swing adsorption for hydrogen separation from methanol-steam reforming off-gas

This study focuses on analysis of a 12-bed vacuum pressure-swing adsorption (VPSA) process capable of purifying hydrogen from a ternary mixture (H2/CO2/CO 75/24/1 mol%) derived from methanol-steam reforming. The process produces 9 kmol H2/h with less than 2 ppm and 0.2 ppm of CO2 and CO, respectively, to supply a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. The process model is developed in Aspen Adsorption® using the “uni-bed” approach. A parametric study of H2 purity and recovery with respect to adsorption pressure, adsorbent height, activated carbon:zeolite ratio, feed composition, and number of beds is performed. Results show 12-bed VPSA can meet the H2 purity goals, with H2 recovery as high as 75.75%. Adsorption occurs at 7 bar, the column height is 1.2 m, and the adsorbent ratio is 70%:30%. A 4-bed VPSA can achieve the same purity goals as the 12-bed process, but H2 recovery decreases to 61.34%.

Facilitated transport membranes for H2 purification from coal-derived syngas: A techno-economic analysis

A single-stage membrane process has been designed for using facilitated transport membranes (FTMs) to decarbonize the coal-derived syngas from an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant. The necessary process model and costing method have also been developed to assess the technical feasibility and process economics. In order to account for the carrier saturation phenomenon associated with FTMs, a homogeneous reactive diffusion model is integrated into the process model. The techno-economic study reveals that the mitigated carrier saturation upon bulk CO2 removal can lead to appreciable increases in the CO2 permeance and CO2/H2 selectivity, which can be utilized to achieve 95% CO2 purity and 95% H2 recovery with a CO2/H2 selectivity of 50 at the complete carrier saturation. FTMs with different facilitated transport characteristics can also be arranged in a hybrid membrane configuration to render a H2 recovery of 99% and a cost of electricity of $118.5/MWh, which is 12.5% lower than that of the benchmark Selexol process.

Membrane reactor performances in H2 recovery under conditions relevant for the HCPB tritium extraction system

The Tritium produced in the HCPB blanket is released in both elemental and oxidized form (the HT/HTO release rate is about 97/3). The reference process for removing the produced tritium relies on the use of Reactive Molecular Sieve Beds (RMSBs) and Cryogenic Molecular Sieve Beds (CMSBs). The open issues of such process are related to the regeneration procedure to be adopted in the RMSBs and on the suitable technique required for treating the gas stream leaving the RMSBs during the regeneration phase, which contains the released Q2O mixed with the He and H2 stream used for flushing the sieving beds. Membrane reactors represent a valid option due to their ability in performing Water Gas Shift (WGS) reaction and hydrogen separation directly in one device.In this study, the performances of a membrane reactor (a Pd/Ag membrane filled with 16 g of a commercial catalyst named ShiftMax® 120 HCF) in H2 recovery via Water Gas Shift reaction have been explored by performing both experimental tests and simulation analysis. Particularly two sets of experiments, differing solely in the H2O amount fed in the membrane reactor (5 and 10 g h-1), have been performed. In both, the H2O/CO feeding ratio was equal to 1 and four different conditions were investigated: i) no addition of H2 and He in the WGS feeding stream; ii) addition of H2 to the WGS feeding stream at several H2/H2O feed molar ratio; iii) addition of H2 and He to the WGS feeding stream at several H2/H2O and He/H2O feed molar ratio, iv) addition of He to the WGS feeding stream at several He/H2O feed molar ratio. The experimental results have been used to validate a novel simulation tool and in most of the cases a good agreement have been observed among the experimental and the simulation results.