Devolopment of a mini-channel gas separator utilizing Soret effect

Hydrogen is still one of the candidates of future energy source. However, the refining and separating process of hydrogen requires certain amount of chemical and thermal cost. We attempted to utilize the Soret effect to separate hydrogen from mixed gas. The Soret effect is mass transport phenomenon caused only by temperature gradient, which could cost much less than current refining methods. We confirmed the hydrogen separation from a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, by a simple experiment with stainless mini tube. However, the obtained concentration increment of hydrogen gas was found to be as small as 4 %. For practical purpose, the multi-step repeated separation with mini channels will be necessary. In this study, we attempted to build a MEMS device to separate hydrogen, as the first step to realize multi-step miniature MEMS system. The authors experimentally found that the single-step MEMS device functioned properly and that the hydrogen separation was obtained as expected.