Development of Pd-based double-skinned membranes for hydrogen production in fluidized bed membrane reactors

This paper reports the preparation and performance characterization of new PdAg supported membranes with a porous protecting layer to protect the membrane surface from particles in a fluidized bed membrane reactor. Supported membranes with a selective layer of 1 µm and a protective layer have been prepared. Outstanding H2 permeance (5·10−6 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1) and H2/N2 perm-selectivity (over 25,000) were measured at 400 °C and 1 bar of pressure difference. One membrane has been tested for more than 750 h in the presence of fluidized glass beads showing a decay in the perm-selectivity to approximately 5000, mainly due to sealing leakage. However, the protective layer was removed during this long-term test. Another membrane has been tested for more than 2000 h in a fluidized bed membrane reactor with a Rh reforming catalyst supported on promoted alumina in the bubbling fluidization regime. During tests with binary mixtures mass transfer limitations toward the membrane were observed due to large H2 permeance of the membranes.The presented work is funded within FERRET project as part of European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement n. 621181