Hydrogen Atom Transport Membrane Enabled H2/Hydrocarbon Separations

Natural gas, which is primarily composed of methane, ethane, and propane, often undergoes dehydrogenation steps prior to industrial use, whereby hydrogen gas must be separated from the carbon chain. This separation step requires high temperatures and is limited by several thermodynamic barriers. This project seeks to overcome this traditionally high energy step through the development of a rapid separation process that removes H2 from hydrocarbon feeds using an electrochemical hydrogen pump (EHP). Key to this reactive separation approach, H2 is first converted into its constituent protons and electrons at an anode, transmitted through a proton membrane and electrical circuit, then recombined into H2 at a cathode. Fundamental insights will be sought related to how Au catalysts selectively convert hydrogen into protons and electrons rather than the hydrocarbon feed and how reducing the distance between positive and negative charges at the cathode will accelerate the kinetics associated with hydrogen atom transport through the membrane for a successful reactive separation platform.