Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
640261 | Separation and Purification Technology | 2016 | 7 Pages |
•PDMS gas separation membrane for biohydrogen purification was evaluated.•Effects of feed gas mixture composition and recovery were tested.•Hydrogen sulfide impurities were shown to influence CO2/H2 separation.•The importance of minor contaminants present in biohydrogen mixture was demonstrated.
This work reports on the separation of biohydrogen using a hollow-fiber PDMS membrane. The performance of the module was evaluated using binary CO2/H2 (35–65 vol.% H2 content) and ternary CO2/H2/H2S mixtures (50 vol.% H2, 50 vol% CO2, 25–175 ppm H2S) and the effect of recovery and gas composition (with special focus on hydrogen sulfide content) was revealed. H2S is a potential impurity of the raw gas coming from steady-state, dark fermentative hydrogen producing bioreactors. The results indicated that H2S could have a concentration-dependent impact on membrane behavior and affected the obtainable CO2/H2 selectivity. The outcomes were thoroughly compared to other relevant gas separation reports found in the literature. Evaluating the impacts of trace-level substances present in the gaseous mixture containing biohydrogen may help to design effective purification system based on membrane technology for the hydrogen economy.