Characterization of a Pd/Ta composite membrane and its application to a large scale high-purity hydrogen separation from mixed gas

• Published in: Separation and purification technology 2018-07, Vol.200, p.221-229
• Main Authors: Jo, Young Suk, Lee, Chan Hyun, Kong, Seong Young, Lee, Kwan-Young, Yoon, Chang Won, Nam, Suk Woo, Han, Jonghee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dense metallic membranes; Fuel-cell grade high-purity hydrogen; Hydrogen purification; Pd/Ta composite membrane; Permeability
• ISSN: 1383-5866; 1873-3794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2017.12.019

[Display omitted] •Pd/Ta composite membranes were successfully fabricated by electroless plating.•Embrittlement issues of Ta could be avoided by tailoring operating conditions.•Leak-free operation was possible under pressurized (99.999%) could be directly obtained using the membrane module.•6.9 L min−1 of H2 could be produced from separation processes using the membrane module. Group VB metals, as candidates for hydrogen separation metallic membrane, suffer from low surface catalytic activity and mechanical integrity issues due to hydrogen embrittlement, which limited their practical application for mixed gas purification. This study overcomes these problems and successfully demonstrates operation schemes of a Pd/Ta composite membrane, prepared by an electroless deposition of a thin Pd layer on a bulk Ta surface. The fabricated Pd/Ta composite membrane presented higher permeability (4.7 × 10−8 mol m−1 s−1 pa−0.5) than that of Pd-based metallic membranes reported in the previous literatures, and gas chromatography analysis proved a fuel-cell grade high-purity hydrogen (purity of 99.999% and