Comparative Analysis of Pressure Swing Adsorption and Supersonic Separators for High-Purity Hydrogen Applications

Abstract

In a hydrogen-based economy, many high-purity applications are required, so innovative and ultra-efficient purification processes are crucial. There are a variety of methods to separate and purify hydrogen and they can be classified mainly as physical and chemical methods, among the physical processes, PSA technology has been around for some time and is characterized by low operating costs and long service life. On the other hand, PSA has some disadvantages like the need for process optimization to reach high levels of hydrogen purity. An unusual separation technology that can be used to purify H2 is supersonic separators (SS) a new approach to condensing and separating water and heavy hydrocarbons from natural gas already in use in the natural gas industry, and which can also be applied in the sector of hydrogen. Compared with traditional processing, the main advantage of supersonic separation technology is its small size and flexible structure. This work aims to analyse both technology´s advantages and disadvantages, evaluating the SS's technical viability for hydrogen purification through numerical modelling.