Method for producing high purity hydrogen
AssigneeAir Products and Chemicals, Inc.
InventorsShubhra Jyoti Bhadra, Jeffrey R. Hufton, Timothy C. Golden, Aaron Raymond Scott, Quan Min Shao, Vishrut Garg
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Abstract
A hydrogen feed stream comprising oxygen and one or more impurities selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, argon, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water, is purified using a cryogenic temperature swing adsorption (CTSA) process with high overall recovery of hydrogen. The CTSA is regenerated using an inert gas to prevent an explosive mixture of hydrogen and oxygen from occurring.
Claims6
A process for the purification of a hydrogen feed stream comprising hydrogen, oxygen, and one or more impurities selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, argon, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water, the process comprising:
- cooling the hydrogen feed stream to produce a cooled hydrogen stream;
- combining a liquid hydrogen stream with the cooled hydrogen stream to produce a combined cooled hydrogen stream;
- passing the combined cooled hydrogen stream through an online adsorber at a temperature below 80 K to adsorb the one or more impurities and produce a pure hydrogen stream and a loaded adsorber;
- and
- passing an inert regeneration gas stream through the loaded adsorber at a temperature between 0° C. and 50° C. and pressure to regenerate the loaded adsorber and produce a spent regeneration gas stream enriched in oxygen.
A process for the purification of a hydrogen feed stream comprising hydrogen, oxygen, and one or more impurities selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, argon, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water, the process comprising:
- cooling the hydrogen feed stream to produce a cooled hydrogen stream;
- passing the cooled hydrogen stream through an online adsorber at a temperature below 80 K to adsorb the one or more impurities and produce a pure hydrogen stream and a loaded adsorber;
- passing an inert regeneration gas stream through the loaded adsorber at a temperature between 0° C. and 50° C. and pressure to regenerate the loaded adsorber and produce a spent regeneration gas stream enriched in oxygen;
- and
- separating a crude hydrogen stream by an adsorption process using a plurality of adsorbent beds to produce the hydrogen feed stream and an impurities-enriched hydrogen-depleted tail gas stream,
- wherein the adsorption process comprises a counter-current purge step during which a purge gas is introduced to remove one or more crude impurities selected from nitrogen, argon, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water, from the plurality of adsorbent beds;
- and
- wherein the purge gas comprises at least a portion of the spent regeneration gas stream.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.