Gas-Gas Separation for Blue Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen is increasingly being acknowledged as an energy carrier that will help achieve a low or net zero-carbon energy future. Currently, more than 95% of the hydrogen in the world is produced from fossil fuels, with or without the capture of the co-produced carbon dioxide. When the carbon dioxide is captured and sequestered (e.g. permanently stored in depleted oil or gas reservoirs or deep saline aquifers), the hydrogen is referred to as blue hydrogen.

Several gas-gas separation operations are involved in the production of blue hydrogen from methane steam reforming, hydrocarbon reforming or coal gasification. These include desulfurization of the feed gas or syngas to protect the catalysts used in the production process, the removal of gas impurities in the hydrogen product stream, the capture and purification of the carbon dioxide co-produced in the process, and optional further separation or recovery of valuable components such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in the vent gas from the hydrogen purification and CO2 removal units. More recently the low carbon-hydrogen (LCH) process offers a major improvement in blue hydrogen production through the use of oxygen.

Gas-gas separation operations are also essential in the application of hydrogen as an energy carrier. Ammonia is already in use as a transport friendly proxy for hydrogen. The ammonia production process requires air separation to provide the nitrogen for ammonia synthesis, the purification of the produced ammonia, and the recovery of hydrogen from the vent of liquid ammonia storage. In addition, there is also a need for the separation of hydrogen from natural gas if the produced hydrogen is blended with natural gas for pipeline transportation to end-users.

This presentation reviews the gas-gas separation technologies required in the production, distribution and use of blue hydrogen.

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