TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a MEMS channel device for hydrogen gas separation based on the soret effect
AU - Wako, Takahiro
AU - Shimizu, Masae
AU - Matsumoto, Sohei
AU - Ono, Naoki
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Prof. Shinya Watanabe in Ibaraki University and Prof. Masahiro Shoji in Kanagawa University for their valuable suggestions and ideas. This research was partially supported by the MEXT/JSPS, Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (No. 24656146).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Energy sources independent of fossil fuels or atomic power are of great importance to achieve a sustainable society from the viewpoint of environmental conservation and benefits. Hydrogen is considered as one of the main candidates for new sources. The steam reforming method is a major contemporary process for manufacturing hydrogen, during which carbon dioxide is simultaneously generated. Therefore, an additional process that can separate hydrogen from carbon dioxide is necessary. For this reason, we proposed the use of a new method based on the Soret effect for the separation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The Soret effect is capable of producing a concentration difference only by imposing a temperature difference. However, in previous studies, our group found that a single-step separation process could increase the concentration by only a few percent. Thus, a multi-step separation process is necessary for obtaining high gas concentration. In this study, we adopted micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) fabrication technology to develop a separation device and performed single-step hydrogen-separation experiments. The MEMS technology applied in this study has shown potential for the miniaturization of the device and enhancement of separation cycle number for future experiments.
AB - Energy sources independent of fossil fuels or atomic power are of great importance to achieve a sustainable society from the viewpoint of environmental conservation and benefits. Hydrogen is considered as one of the main candidates for new sources. The steam reforming method is a major contemporary process for manufacturing hydrogen, during which carbon dioxide is simultaneously generated. Therefore, an additional process that can separate hydrogen from carbon dioxide is necessary. For this reason, we proposed the use of a new method based on the Soret effect for the separation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The Soret effect is capable of producing a concentration difference only by imposing a temperature difference. However, in previous studies, our group found that a single-step separation process could increase the concentration by only a few percent. Thus, a multi-step separation process is necessary for obtaining high gas concentration. In this study, we adopted micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) fabrication technology to develop a separation device and performed single-step hydrogen-separation experiments. The MEMS technology applied in this study has shown potential for the miniaturization of the device and enhancement of separation cycle number for future experiments.
KW - Concentration difference
KW - Hydrogen separation
KW - MEMS
KW - Micro-channel
KW - Soret effect
KW - Temperature difference
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U2 - 10.1299/jtst.2014jtst0005
DO - 10.1299/jtst.2014jtst0005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85066751232
VL - 9
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Journal of Thermal Science and Technology
JF - Journal of Thermal Science and Technology
SN - 1880-5566
IS - 1
ER -