Objectives

HyGrid aims the Proof of Concept of a novel membrane based hybrid technology for the direct separation of hydrogen from natural gas grids. To achieve this, HyGrid will develop a new hybrid separation system integrating three different technologies (membranes, electrochemical separation and temperature swing adsorption) in a way that enhances the strengths of each of them.

HyGrid will address the following issues:

  • Development of a hydrogen separation system capable of targeting low (2-10%) and very low (<2%) H2 blends in natural gas
  • Development of novel stable, high performance and long durability membranes for hydrogen recovery from low hydrogen content streams.
  • Development of more stable sealing methods for the membranes at moderate temperatures and reductive atmospheres.
  • The further development of EHP for hydrogen recovery from very low concentration streams.
  • The further development of TSA for water removal from hydrogen/water streams.
  • The integration of the new membranes, TSA and EHP in novel hybrid system to achieve high recoveries with low energy penalties.
  • Technical validation of the novel modules at lab scale.
  • The complete energy analysis of the new HyGrid technology applied to different scenarios. This includes:
    • recovery of hydrogen from low concentration streams (2% -10%) up to 99.97% H2 purity (ISO14687) in the whole range of pressures of the Natural Gas Network
    • Different configurations/combinations of the three separation technologies (Membranes, TSA and EHP)
  • The validation of the novel hybrid system at prototype scale (TLR 5)
  • The environmental LCA of the complete chain.
  • The dissemination to stakeholders: the scientific community to share knowledge and the industrial community to support the exploitation of the project results towards market use.
  • The exploitation of the results including the definition of a targeted and quantified development roadmap to bring the technology to the market.

The HyGrid project structure is subdivided in work packages following the focus on the development of membranes for H2 separation, electrochemical separation and TSA for hydrogen separation from natural gas grids. Furthermore, the project will give a robust proof of concept, validation and assessment of the novel hybrid separation technology. Therefore, the work structure is based on the following work packages.

The key milestones or deliverables in the frame of the project are the validation of the lab-scale separation unit at month 20, the availability of the separation system prototype at M30 and the validation of this prototype at month 36.