Hydrogen is used for a wide variety of industrial applications including chemical synthesis by steam reforming (SMR), in fuel cells, and in petroleum refining as a substitute for heavy fossil fuels.psa for hydrogen production But the hydrogen produced from these processes often comes out impure, requiring a purification process to create usable hydrogen gas. One such purification method is called psa, or Pressure Swing Adsorption.
PSA involves passing a gas mixture through sieve beds filled with a porous material such as zeolite.psa for hydrogen production The zeolite is uniquely able to sieve through the mixture, allowing only smaller molecules like hydrogen to pass through. This specialized property is what allows the process to work. As the pressurized gas passes through the adsorption bed, the zeolite traps the hydrogen molecules and desorbed impurities such as water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and unreacted hydrocarbons. As a result, the product gas is high-purity hydrogen.
Typically, the impurities are absorbed and released in four cycles, known as adsorption, desorption, regeneration, and equalization.psa for hydrogen production This cyclic process is the key to the efficiency of a PSA system. However, controlling this cycle is not easy. Specifically, the system must manage the adsorption and desorption of the gas mixture while achieving equilibrium at a set operating point.
To do this, the adsorption cycle is driven by an inverse relation between the system pressure and the concentration of the impurities in the product stream.psa for hydrogen production Using a model-based control approach, we have developed a new method for stabilizing the operation of PSA systems during this inverse relationship. Specifically, our method is based on an inverse feedback loop between adsorption and desorption and between the feed, product, and tail gas.
In this way, our system can achieve high-purity hydrogen at the lowest energy cost. This system is an ideal choice for a number of applications, including chemical synthesis, fuel cell development, and other industrial processes.
As the demand for clean, green, and affordable hydrogen continues to increase worldwide, the need for cost-efficient pure-hydrogen production increases as well. For this reason, we’ve focused on combining two cost-effective processes: fuel-processing and PSA systems to produce pure hydrogen from methane steam reforming or other fossil-fuel-based methods. We’ve also looked at the effects of various thermodynamic parameters on overall system efficiency. These results have shown that the optimal design is a combination of the methane steam reformer with the psa system for optimum performance.
