Energy efficient purification of hydrogen is an important technological challenge with broad applications in the chemical, petrochemical, metallurgical, pharmaceutical, textile and energy industries. Palladium-alloy membranes are particularly suited to this problem due to their high hydrogen permeability, thermal stability, and virtually infinite selectivity. In current systems hydrogen flux is observed to be inversely proportional to membrane thickness which is indicative of the interstitial diffusion mechanism of hydrogen permeation. This observation, along with the high cost of palladium, has motivated continuous efforts to decrease membrane thickness. Theoretical modeling of membrane performance predicts that as membrane thickness continues to decrease, eventually the permeation rate will no longer be limited by diffusion through the bulk Pd but will become limited by desorption from the permeate surface. If it exists, this is a vital transition to pinpoint due to the fact that below this thickness membrane operating conditions will have a drastically different effect on hydrogen permeation behavior and no additional performance enhancements will result from further decreasing thickness. A handful of experimental results in the open literature contradict these modeling predictions. A new model is developed in this work to explain these contradictions by considering the non-ideal behavior of hydrogen solution into metals which has been neglected in previous models. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that hydrogen permeation through bulk Pd depends on membrane microstructure, making deposition conditions and post-deposition thermal treatment important issues for repeatable performance. The interplay of these issues on the performance of ultra-thin, Pd-Ag alloy hydrogen separating membranes is experimentally investigated. It is demonstrated that the hydrogen permeation behavior of sub-micrometer thick Pd-Ag alloy membranes exhibits diffusion-limited behavior in the context of the new model. The microstructure evolution during annealing is characterized and a correlation is drawn with the observed transient hydrogen permeation behavior during initial testing of a new membrane. In addition, two distinct failure modes of the microfabricated membranes are observed and the implications for future Pd-based membrane research are discussed.

This work provides a detailed characterization study on H2S poisoning of Pd and Pd/Au alloy composite membranes to obtain fundamental understandings of sulfur poisoning phenomena and preparation of sulfur tolerant membranes. The enhancement of the sulfur tolerance by alloying Pd with Au has been confirmed by both permeation test and microstructure analysis (SEM and XRD). While pure Pd membranes exhibited the permeance decline in the presence of H2S due to both sulfur adsorption and bulk Pd4S formation, Pd/Au alloy membranes showed the permeance loss merely resulted from the surface sulfur adsorption without bulk sulfide formation up to 55 ppm H2S. The XPS study confirmed that the H2S adsorption on the Pd/Au alloy surfaces was dissociative, and both surface Au and Pd sulfides were formed with the preferential Au-S bonding. The adsorption type of sulfur on the Pd/Au alloy surfaces was monolayer with a limited coverage, which increased with decreasing temperature. The permeance loss of Pd/Au membranes was essentially fully recoverable in H2, and the integrity of the membranes remained unaltered after the poisoning/recovery tests. Increasing Au composition in the Pd/Au membranes increased the sulfur tolerance. A Pd/Au alloy membrane of 16.7 wt% Au exhibited a permeance over 50% of its original value in the presence of 5 ppm H2S at 400°C, while a Pd membrane showed 85% permeance loss. The Pd/Au alloy membranes were fabricated by the Au displacement deposition, which had an empirical reaction order of 3.2 determined by the AAS. The HT-XRD study verified that the formed Pd/Au alloy layers were thermally stable up to 500°C.

Palladium membranes have been identified as the membranes of choice in hydrogen separation and purification processes due to their infinite selectivity to hydrogen when defect free. Despite their potentials in hydrogen processes, palladium membranes pose challenges in terms of cost and embritllement which occurs when palladium comes in contact with hydrogen at temperatures below 573 K. The challenges posed by palladium membranes have encouraged research into nonpalladium based membranes such as Silica and Alumina. This thesis investigates hydrogen permeation and separation in palladium membranes and also the use of nonpalladium membranes, Silica and Alumina membranes in hydrogen permeation. In this study, hydrogen permeation behavior was investigated for 3 types of membranes, Palladium, Silica and Alumina. Thin palladium films were deposited onto a 30 nm porous ceramic alumina support using both conventional and modified electroless plating methods. The hydrogen separation and purification behavior of the membranes were investigated including the effect of annealing at higher temperatures. Gas permeation through Silica and Alumina membranes was investigated for 5 single gases including hydrogen. The Silica and Alumina membranes were fabricated using the dip coating method and their hydrogen permeation behavior of investigated at different coatings. A thin Palladium (Pd1) membrane with a thickness of 2 μm was prepared over porous ceramic alumina support using the electroless plating method and a maximum hydrogen flux of 80.4 cm3 cm-2 min-1 was observed at 873 K and 0.4 bar after annealing the membrane. The hydrogen flux increased to 94.5 cm3 cm-2 min-1 at same temperature and pressure for the Palladium membrane (Pd2) prepared using the modified electroless plating method. The hydrogen flux increased to 98.1 cm3 cm2 min-1 for the palladium/silver (Pd/Ag) membrane prepared using the codeposition electroless plating method and the PdAg membrane avoided the hydrogen embrittlement at low temperature. Hydrogen purity for the membrane was also investigated for a reformate gas mixture and a maximum hydrogen purity of 99.93% was observed at 873 K and 0.4 bar. The hydrogen purity was observed to increase as a result of the addition of sulphur which surpresses the inhibition effect of the carbon monoxide in the reformate gas mixture. The presence of CO and CO2 was observed to lead to an increase of the exponential factor n above 0.5 as a result of the inhibiting effect of these compounds on hydrogen permeation. The value of the exponential factor n depicting the rate limiting step to hydrogen permeation in the palladium and palladium-alloy membranes was also investigated. Deviations from Sievert’s law were observed from the Palladium membranes inverstigated in this work. In single gas hydrogen permeation investigation for the Pd1 membrane prepared using the conventional electroless plating method, the value of the exponential factor n = 0.5 in accordance with Sievert’s law. However, for the mixed gas hydrogen separation investigation n=0.62 at 573 K which decreased to 0.55 when the membrane was annealed at 873 K. For the Pd2 membrane prepared using the modified elctroless plating method, n=1 at 573 K but the value decreased to 0.76 for the mixed gas hydrogen separation investigation at same temperature which depicts a deviation from Sievert’s law. In all the investigations carried out for the Pd3 palladium alloy membrane prepared using the co-deposition Pd/Ag electroless plating method at same conditions with the Pd1 and Pd2 membranes, n=0.5 in accordance with Sievert’s law. For the Nonpalladium based Silica and ceramic Alumina membranes, investigations were carried out for hydrogen permeation and 5 other single gases; He, CO2, CH4, N2 and Ar. For the Silica membranes, a maximum hydrogen permeance of 3.12-7 x 10 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 at 573 K and 0.4 bar was observed which increased to 4.05 x 10-7 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 at 573 K and 0.4 when the membrane was modified with Boehmite sol prior to deposition of the Silica layer. The permeance for hydrogen and the 5 single gases was investigated for the alumina membrane at 5 successive coatings. It was observed that the commercial alumina membrane displayed a maximum hydrogen permeance of 9.72 x 10-7 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 at 573 K and 0.4 bar which increased to 9.85 x 10-7 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 at same temperature and pressure when the membrane was modified with Boehmite sol.

<p>South Africa s coal and platinum mineral resources are crucial resources towards creating an alternative and environmentally sustainable energy system. The beneficiation of these natural resources can help to enhance a sustainable and effective clean energy base infrastructure and further promote their exploration and exportation for economics gains. By diversification of these resources, coal and the platinum group metals (PGMs) especially palladium market can be further harnessed in the foreseeable future hence SA energy security can be guaranteed from the technological point of view. The South Africa power industry is a critical sector, and has served as a major platform in the South African socio-economic development. This sector has also been identified as a route towards an independent energy base, with global relevance through the development of membrane technologies to effectively and economically separate and purify hydrogen from the gas mixtures released during coal gasification. The South Africa power industry is a critical sector, and has served as a major platform in the SA&rsquo / s socio-economic development. This sector has also been identified as a route towards an independent energy base, with global relevance through the development of membrane technologies to effectively and economically separate and purify hydrogen from the gas mixtures released during coal gasification. Coal gasification is considered as a source of hydrogen gas and the effluent gases released during this process include hydrogen sulphide, oxides of carbon and nitrogen, hydrogen and other particulates. In developing an alternative hydrogen gas separating method, composite membrane based on organic-inorganic system is being considered since the other available methods of hydrogen separation are relatively expensive.<br /> &nbsp / </p>

<p>South Africa s coal and platinum mineral resources are crucial resources towards creating an alternative and environmentally sustainable energy system. The beneficiation of these natural resources can help to enhance a sustainable and effective clean energy base infrastructure and further promote their exploration and exportation for economics gains. By diversification of these resources, coal and the platinum group metals (PGMs) especially palladium market can be further harnessed in the foreseeable future hence SA energy security can be guaranteed from the technological point of view. The South Africa power industry is a critical sector, and has served as a major platform in the South African socio-economic development. This sector has also been identified as a route towards an independent energy base, with global relevance through the development of membrane technologies to effectively and economically separate and purify hydrogen from the gas mixtures released during coal gasification. The South Africa power industry is a critical sector, and has served as a major platform in the SA&rsquo / s socio-economic development. This sector has also been identified as a route towards an independent energy base, with global relevance through the development of membrane technologies to effectively and economically separate and purify hydrogen from the gas mixtures released during coal gasification. Coal gasification is considered as a source of hydrogen gas and the effluent gases released during this process include hydrogen sulphide, oxides of carbon and nitrogen, hydrogen and other particulates. In developing an alternative hydrogen gas separating method, composite membrane based on organic-inorganic system is being considered since the other available methods of hydrogen separation are relatively expensive.<br /> &nbsp / </p>

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The production procedure of a CsHS04-Si02 composite membrane was optimized in order to obtain the highest possible H2:C02 and H2:C~ Idea selectivity permeance. The optimized membrane preparation procedure led to the preparation of membranes with Idea selectivity of 5 and 10 towards H2:C~ and H2:C02 respectively. The H2 permeance value is on average 0.15 umol- s-l·m-2.Pa-I. The reproducibility of the optimized membrane was further investigated and was found to be satisfactory. An attempt was made to discover the gas transport mechanism of H2, C~ and C02. Gas permeance measurements were carried out as a function of time and temperature (between 25-180°C) using H2, C~ and C02 as analyte gases. XRD, TGA and impedance spectroscopy were used to identify the phases of CsHS04 within the membrane. The gas permeation mechanism was found to be a combination of Knudsen diffusion and solution diffusion. The pores that allow Knudsen diffusion (allow transport of Hi, CH4 and C02) are believed to be located at the CSHS04 crystal phase boundaries. In parallel, H2 diffuses selectively through the lattice of phase II/III of CsHS04 ..

Industrial production of hydrogen from the syngas, generated from steam reformation of natural gas or coal gasification, sets conditions for hydrogen separation membranes in terms of operating conditions. An alternative source for hydrogen is a syngas generated by gasification of municipal solid wastes which are likely to set more stringent conditions for the separation membranes. There is therefore, a growing demand for separation membranes with improved permeability and particularly of low cost. Among various alternatives, metallic membranes are particularly attractive due to their high selectivity and permeability for hydrogen, exemplified by palladium (Pd). However, due to high cost of Pd there is still a demand to develop alternative metallic membranes that are of low cost and have improved durability. Efforts have therefore concentrated on either alloying Pd so as to reduce its cost or on alternative membrane compositions of particularly b.c.c. structure. The current study deals with hydrogen separation membranes and aims to develop infrastructure for rapid identification of membrane compositions with improved permeability. The study is made up of three parts / i) development of sputter deposition system that would allow deposition of multiple compositions in a single experiment, ii) development of substrate material that would support the thin film membranes and would allow permeability measurement and iii) development of a set-up to measure the permeability of the thin film membranes. In the present thesis, a sputter deposition system incorporating three targets was successfully constructed. The system as tested with palladium-niobium-titanium (Pd-Nb-Ti) ternary system after necessary adjustment would yield thin films of homogenous thickness (&le / 7%) over a sample area of &asymp / 150 mm diameter. A total of 21 substrates each in 19 mm diameter arranged in triangular form in the substrate holder could successfully be deposited where composition distributions covered a greater portion of Pd-Nb-Ti ternary phase diagram. The structure of the deposited thin films can successfully be controlled by substrate temperature as well as by the pressure of plasma gas (argon). With the help of these parameters, structural diversity can also be produced beside the compositional variation. As for substrates, two materials were investigated. These were titanium dioxide (TiO2) modified porous stainless steel (PSS) and anodic porous alumina (AAO). TiO2 modified PSS due to its associated surface roughness leads to the deposition of films with defected structure which as a result is not gas tight. AAO produced via anodization of aluminum foil had a regular (40-60 nm) pore structure that provides a suitable surface for thin film depositions which could be defect free. However, AAO is very delicate and fragile which makes it difficult to adapt it as a support material for permeability measurement/hydrogen separation purposes. Finally, a set-up was developed for measurement of hydrogen permeability which is capable of measurement over a wide pressure and temperature conditions, i.e. hydrogen pressures up to 10 bar and temperature as high as 450 &deg / C. It is recommended that so as to identify compositions with improved permeability, Nb or a similar metal which has extremely high permeability could be used as a support material. This would tolerate the evaluation of the films which are not totally defect free.

My main objective is to gain a firm understanding of the correlation between the defect chemistry and the properties of Ba-based perovskite structure proton-conducting ceramics, especially B-site doped BaCeO3, so as to allow the engineering of these compounds with the desired properties for the application in devices; develop membranes of mixed protonic-electronic conductors suitable for hydrogen separation from gas mixtures; and further advance hydrogen separation technology by gaining fundamental understanding about electrochemical separation mechanism. BZCY proton conductors with various compositions have been synthesized and characterized. The absence of low-angle supercell reflections indicates a random B-site cation distribution. The substitution of Zr led to a decrease in cell volume and an enhanced structural stability against reactions with CO2. The total conductivity for BZCY pellets increased with temperature increased and decreased as the zirconium content increased at each fixed temperature. Dense Ni-BZCY composite membranes have been successfully fabricated for evaluating hydrogen permeability and stability. Doping Zirconium in the B-site only slightly reduced the hydrogen permeation at high temperatures, but dramatically increased the chemical stability in CO2- and H2O-containing gases. Among the compositions studied, the Ni-BZCY7 exhibited both highest H2 permeation rate and good chemistry stability, thus having potential for practical applications.

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This thesis describes a new technique for the preparation of ultrathin Pd based membranes supported on a hollow-fiber α-alumina substrate for H₂ separation. The effectiveness of the membranes is demonstrated in the ethanol steam reforming (EtOH SR) reaction in a membrane reactor (MR) for H₂ production. The membrane preparation technique uses an electric-field to uniformly deposit Pd nanoparticle seeds on a substrate followed by deposition of Pd or Pd-Cu layers on the activated surface by electroless plating (ELP). The well distributed Pd nanoparticles allow for enhanced bonding between the selective layer and the substrate and the formation of gas tight and thermally stable Pd or Pd-Cu layers as thin as 1 µm, which is a record in the field. The best Pd membrane showed H₂ permeance as high as 5.0 × 10⁶ mol m²s⁻¹Pa⁻¹ and stable H²/N₂ selectivity of 9000 - 7000 at 733 K for 5 days. The Pd-Cu alloy membrane showed H₂ permeance of 2.5 × 10⁶ mol m⁻²s⁻¹Pa⁻¹ and H₂/N₂ selectivity of 970 at the same conditions. The reaction studies were carried out with a Co-Na/ZnO catalyst both in a packed bed reactor (PBR) and in a MR equipped with the Pd or Pd-Cu membrane to evaluate the benefits of employing membranes. For all studies, ethanol conversion and hydrogen product yields were significantly higher in the MRs compared to the PBR. Average ethanol conversion enhancement and hydrogen molar flow enhancement were measured to be 12 % and 11 % in the Pd MR and 22 % and 19 % in the Pd-Cu MR, respectively. These enhancements of the conversion and product yield can be attributed to the shift in reaction equilibria by continuous hydrogen removal by the Pd based membranes. The comparative low enhancement in the Pd MR was found to be the result of significant contamination of Pd layer by CO or carbon compounds deposition during the reaction. A one-dimensional modeling of the MR and the PBR was conducted using identical conditions and their performances were compared with the values obtained from the experimental study. The model was developed using a simplified power law and the predicted values matched experimental data with only minor deviations indicating that the model was capturing the essential physicochemical behavior of the system. Enhancements of ethanol conversion and hydrogen yield were observed to increase with rise in space velocity (SV), which could be explained by the increase in H₂ flux through the membranes with SV in the MRs. / Ph. D.