When using commercial membranes the energy demand for reaching higher pressures has been unfavourable considering the proton conductivity, back diffusion and mechanical properties. From the start HyET has been involved in the membrane development to better understand the requirements in EHC environment and have an angle how to achieve the best performance and durability.
Now a new, fully aromatic hydrocarbon, membrane has been developed which was tested at HyET facilities, and results indicate that compared to commercial reference materials this seems to have game-changing properties. More efficient compression was achieved enabling higher throughput and minimising parasitic losses (back diffusion), thus reducing the operation cost significantly for hydrogen compression. Besides its use in the electrochemical compressor, the newly developed membrane may also prove to have merit in other electrochemical applications, such as electrolysers and fuel cells.
This presentation will show results on the enhanced performance, providing insight in the solutions/benefits for EHC technology and show a method for characterisation of new membrane materials that bring great potential to the future of EHC technology.