ECN membrane separates hydrogen from syngas from coal

Palladium based membranes supplied by the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) have been used to convert coal into clean energy through hydrogen. CRL Energy from New Zealand carried out a unique experiment to demonstrate the full chain from coal to electricity. The institute used an ECN Hysep® membrane module as a final step in converting coal gas to hydrogen with the purity required by the fuel cell.

CRL Energy is involved in a New Zealand Government Foundation for Research, Science and Technology project aimed at developing hydrogen production technology using New Zealand’s widely available coal and biomass resources. From coal, a hydrogen rich gas is produced by gasification. In subsequent steps, the gas is desulphurised, passed through a water gas shift reactor, compressed, and fed to the ECN membrane to produce the clean hydrogen which is converted into electricity in a fuel cell. The project demonstrated that using the Hysep® membrane technology the whole chain, from coal to electricity, can be realized.

ECN’s research focuses on the development of hydrogen separation membranes for use in the production of hydrogen. With the Hysep® modules (www.hysep.com), based on thin-film palladium (Pd) composite membranes, it is possible to separate hydrogen from a wide variety of hydrogen-rich streams.

Coal to hydrogen and electricity
Resources of oil are limited. Oil prices are expected to increase strongly in the coming decades as demand for transportation grows faster than the supply of crude oil. Availability of coal is much larger and resources are distributed much more evenly, making its price less sensitive to geo-political developments. Therefore, replacing oil by coal as a primary fuel for transportation would be attractive. Converting coal to hydrogen offers new opportunities to achieve this. By using gasification technologies in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS) abundantly available coal supplies can be used in a climate friendly way.

About CRL Energy
CRL Energy is an energy and environmental research and consulting company with specialist knowledge in new energy technologies, such as hydrogen and biomass conversion, and a strong history in all aspects of fossil fuel energy, particularly coal-related research. For more information about CRL Energy see: www.crl.co.nz .

About ECN
ECN develops and brings to market high-level knowledge and technology for a sustainable energy system that is safe, efficient, reliable, and environment friendly. ECN is a non-profit organisation. For more information about ECN see: www.ecn.nl.

For more information, please contact:

ECN:
Florentine de Maar, Press officer ECN
Phone: +31.224.564050, E-mail: demaar@remove-this-part-ecn.nl
Yvonne van Delft, Project leader at ECN Efficiency&Infrastructure
Phone: +31.224.568178, E-mail: vandelft@remove-this-part-ecn.nl

CRL Energy:
Tana Levi, Senior Researcher, CRL Energy Ltd
Phone: +64.4.570.3714, E-mail: t.levi@remove-this-part-crl.co.nz

 

 

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