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The purification of fermentatively produced hydrogen using membrane technology: a simulation based on small-scale pilot plant results

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Abstract

Hydrogen is known as one of the most promising energy carriers of the future. Its production in a sustainable manner is therefore an important step towards a competitive alternative to fossil energy sources. Dark fermentation is such a sustainable pathway, as hydrogen is produced via biotechnological conversion of biomass. But, the resulting hydrogen-rich gas from fermentation still needs to be upgraded, which can be done via membrane technology. In this work, an innovative small-scale process was developed, membrane modules were assembled and tested, and the purification method was simulatively investigated. The laboratory tests with pure gases showed that the utilized commercially available H2-selective membranes have an ideal H2/CO2-selectivity of 3.3, at the respective process conditions. When applying gas mixtures, the H2/CO2-selectivity was reduced. To further investigate the purification method, an Aspen Plus® gas permeation simulation model was used. The single-stage model was evaluated and it reflected the results from field and laboratory tests well. Furthermore, three different multi-stage setups were developed, simulated, and analyzed. The utilization of H2-selective material in a two-stage process resulted in a specific energy demand of 0.400 kWh/Nm3H2, but achieved no sufficient hydrogen purity. Compared to that, the use of CO2-selective membranes demanded only 0.296 kWh/Nm3H2. The recycle to feed ratio, as well as the H2-puriy of 95.5 vol% in the product was also in favor of the CO2-selective membranes compared to the commercially available H2-selective material.

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Abbreviations

ACM:

Aspen Custom Modeler®

CO2 :

Carbone dioxide

H2 :

Hydrogen

N2 :

Nitrogen

Gpu:

Gas permeation unit (1 gpu = 1 × 106 cm3 (STP) cm−2 s−1 cm Hg−1)

α :

Ideal selectivity

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Acknowledgments

We want to thank our project partners: PROFACTOR GmbH, AXIOM GmbH, Nahtec GmbH and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG. This work is part of the H2MemClean project (FFG project number: 829.890), which is supported by the Climate and Energy Fund and is performed under the program “NEUE ENERGIEN 2020”. http://www.klimafonds.gv.at.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chemical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Getreidemarkt 9/166, 1060, Vienna, Austria

    Tino Lassmann, Martin Miltner, Michael Harasek, Aleksander Makaruk, Walter Wukovits & Anton Friedl

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  1. Tino Lassmann
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  2. Martin Miltner
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  3. Michael Harasek
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  4. Aleksander Makaruk
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  5. Walter Wukovits
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  6. Anton Friedl
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Correspondence to Tino Lassmann.

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Lassmann, T., Miltner, M., Harasek, M. et al. The purification of fermentatively produced hydrogen using membrane technology: a simulation based on small-scale pilot plant results. Clean Techn Environ Policy 18, 315–322 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-015-0997-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-015-0997-7

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