SBIR Phase I: A Membrane Process to Recover Hydrogen from Waste Gas Streams

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目解决了将二氧化碳/氢气分离膜装置纳入蒸汽重整变压吸附（PSA）制氢装置的问题。 该膜装置将使重整PSA装置生产的氢气量增加10 - 20%。 该项目的目标是优化和生产一种新型的复合膜在实验室规模的数量和制造实验室规模的模块包含这种膜。 这些模块将使用代表重整PSA装置中产生的模型进料气体混合物进行评估。 所获得的实验数据将被纳入该工艺的计算机模拟中，以确定该工艺的技术和商业潜力。 在此基础上，将评估将该技术应用于重整PSA操作的总体可行性和优势。 二氧化碳/氢气膜工艺的初始目标是PSA尾气。 美国炼油厂和石化厂中有300多个大型蒸汽重整PSA装置。 所有这些工厂都可以用这种新的膜技术进行改造。从长远来看，还有其他几个巨大的潜在应用，如燃料电池的氢气生产。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the incorporation of a carbon dioxide/hydrogen separating membrane unit into steam reformer pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) hydrogen plants. This membrane unit will increase the amount of hydrogen produced by a reformer PSA plant by 10-20%. The goals of the project are to optimize and produce a new type of composite membrane in bench-scale quantities and to fabricate bench-scale modules containing this membrane. The modules will be evaluated with model feed gas mixtures representative of those generated in reformer PSA plants. The experimental data obtained will be incorporated into a computer simulation of the process to determine the technical and commercial potential of the process. Based on this work, the overall feasibility and advantages of applying the technology to reformer PSA operations will be assessed. The initial target of the carbon dioxide/hydrogen membrane process to be developed is PSA tail gas. More than 300 large steam reformer PSA plants are operating in U.S. refineries and petrochemical plants. All of these plants can potentially be retrofitted with this new membrane technology. Longer-term, several other large potential applications such as hydrogen production for fuel cells exist.