Effect of N2 and CO Inhibition in H2 Permeation through Pd82Ag18/Al2O3 Membrane at Various Temperatures

• Main Author: Luthfan Ardhi, Andika
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/38425
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Pd-based membrane is one of the highly selective membranes for hydrogen separation. However, the permeability of Pd-based membrane will decrease if the feed gas mixture for the membrane contains N2 and CO. This research aimed to determine the inhibitory effect of N2 and CO gas, dynamic conditions on H2 permeability, and determine the effect of temperature on H2 recovery through Pd82Ag18/Al2O3 membrane. The membrane used has a thickness of 20.2 ?m Pd82Ag18 and 2 mm Al2O3 as the support. The feed used was a mixture of hydrogen gas, one of the inhibitor gases, and argon for residence time balancing purpose. The sweep gas was flowed on the tube side to create a driving force in form of a pressure difference. The variation used for the membrane permeability tests was the composition of the feed and for the temperature effect tests was the operating temperatures which were at 320°C, 340°C, and 360°C. The membrane permeability tests were carried out at 350°C and the switching time for the dynamic condition was 60 seconds. From the research, the permeability for Pd82Ag18/Al2O3 with pure hydrogen feed was obtained at 5.57×10-4 mole H2 m-1 h-1 kPa-0.5, whereas with CO as inhibitor, the permeability was at 5.17×10- 4 mole H2 m-1 h-1 kPa-0.5, and with N2 as inhibitor, the permeability was at 5.09×10-4 mole H2 m-1 h-1 kPa-0.5. The dynamic condition with N2 as inhibitor increased the permeability by 49%. H2 recovery from the temperature tests, for the pure H2 and with N2 inhibitor, increased as the operating temperature rose, whilst for the mixture with CO as inhibitor, the H2 recovery decreased at 360°C. The effect of temperature on time lag was also observed and it decreased as the operating temperature rose for all feed mixtures. Based on the results of this research, the presence of inhibitors would decrease while dynamic conditions increase the membrane permeability. The operating temperature also affected the H2 recovery and time lag based on the feed mixture used.