Self-contained Electrochemical Process to Produce Pure Compressed Hydrogen from Hydrocarbons and Steam Without an External Energy Supply

This paper describes and analyzes a system that tightly couples an electrochemical oxidation cell (EOC) with a protonic-conducting ceramic separation cell (PSC) to produce compressed pure hydrogen from a hydrocarbon feedstock and water. The EOC introduces oxygen through its membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) into the fuel chamber, enabling partial oxidation and reformation of the fuel to produce a hydrogen-rich mixture within the anode microstructure. At the same time, the EOC generates the electric power needed to drive the PSC for hydrogen separation and compression. On the other hand, removing hydrogen from the fuel stream by PSC can thermodynamically promote the catalytic conversion of the fuel stream. The concept leads to a self-contained integrated system, being independent of any external electrical power source, and being capable of producing pressurized hydrogen with potentially high energy-conversion efficiency.