Membrane Systems for the Recovery of Hydrogen from Multicomponent Gas Mixtures Obtained in Biomass Gasification

This work first generally reviews possible membrane materials for the hydrogen enrichment of biomass gasification producer gas mixture. Subsequently two permeator arrangements (single stage and two-stage with sweep) equipped with a glassy membrane material are evaluated through numerical modelling. The evaluation of the permeator systems focuses on critical hydrogen upgrading parameters like achievable hydrogen purity, hydrogen recovery and compression energy requirement. It is shown that the two-stage arrangement with sweep allows production of hydrogen with relatively high purity (above 98 % v/v) and recovery.