Combining electrochemical hydrogen separation and temperature vacuum swing adsorption for the separation of N2, H2 and CO2

In biohydrogen processes, H-2 is often present in gas mixtures with CO2 and N-2. Therefore, we present a separation process that combines electrochemical hydrogen separation (ECHS) and amine-based temperature vacuum swing adsorption (TVSA). Such a separation process does not require the compression of the bulk feed. For the ECHS, a trade-off be-tween cell potential, i.e. power consumption, and stack size, i.e. investment costs, existed. The optimal cell voltage laid in the range of 0.1-0.2 V resulting in costs of 0.37 (sic)/kg(H2). Equivalently, the energy consumption and throughput for the TVSA must be balanced. The optimal desorption pressure and temperature of 0.025 bar and 100 degrees C resulted in costs of 2.30 (sic)/kg(H2). Thus, the total costs for the separation process were 2.67 (sic)/kgH(2), which are in the range of the separation costs of a binary H-2/CO2 mixture with a similar H2 feed fraction. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC.