6 CFM Electrochemical Hydrogen Pump and Compressor
Project Description
Hydrogen is an essential resource for space missions. NASA has a need for equipment to generate, handle and store hydrogen. In terms of handling hydrogen, conventional rotating mechanical pumps and compressors require extensive modification and have limited reliability. Electrochemical pumping and compression of hydrogen occurs without any moving parts and is highly reliable and efficient. Sustainable Innovations has demonstrated up to 6,000 psi of compression using electrochemical cell hardware. However, for high flow applications, such as a 6 CFM hydrogen pump for NASA, a departure from traditional electrochemical cell hardware designs is needed. Our work in Phase I demonstrated an Expandable Modular Architecture cell design, that allows a large footprint for the electrochemical stack. This is achieved using modular cell parts to create large active area cells. The modular parts are inexpensive to manufacture and can achieve the high tolerances need for large active area cells. The proposed Phase II activity will leverage the key developments in Phase I and demonstate the scalability of this device for critical NASA and commercial applications. This will include increasing the active area/capacity of the electrochemical cell stack by a factor of 5, and to increase pressure capability from 200 psi to 750 psi. The resultant unit will be utilized to actuate pneumatic tools that could be used in space.
More »Anticipated Benefits
An Electrochemical Hydrogen Pump & Compressor (EHPC) using an EMA cell design is applicable to several NASA applications. For extraterrestrial in situ resource utilization the EHPC will be able to handle the flow rates, 6 CFM, needed to recirculate hydrogen and facilitate pneumatic transport. Terrestrial NASA applications include capturing, purifying and compressing purge gas for various experimental rocket test stands. In extraterrestrial applications it is envisaged that the EHPC variable footprint will allow construction to conform to geometric constraints of a spacecraft. In addition, the simplicity of the systems balance-of-plant, a regulated power source, and the proven high reliability of electrochemical based devices means that redundant units may not be needed. The EHPC technology would add a key tool to NASA ability to move and store hydrogen efficiently and safely in extraterrestrial environments. A large amount of hydrogen used during testing of rocket engines and other space systems is wasted due to cryogenic boil-off loses and pre-test purging. The ability to efficiently capture, purify and compress this hydrogen for reuse, relies on handling large flow rates. Very large cell active areas are needed to meet this need. The EMA cell design facilitates the building of a large scale EHPC to recycle hydrogen. This will be economically beneficial to NASA while lowering the carbon footprint of NASA testing.
The emergence of hydrogen based economy will necessitate the ability to pump and compress large amount of hydrogen. A range of EHPC products with an EMA cell design will facilitate a hydrogen economy by delivering hydrogen to fueling stations and providing the compression for vehicular refueling. Assuming the adoption of a pipeline hydrogen based infrastructure, there is a need to pump the hydrogen along the pipeline to the fueling stations. A medium to large size fueling station would require 300 lbs per day of hydrogen, which at 500 psi is 1,730 cf. A 30 CFM EHPC system, would allow a fueling station to store a day's worth of fuel in 2 hours. Hydrogen powered vehicles require hydrogen at 6,000 10,000 psi to facilitate efficient volumetric storage. Sustainable Innovations' cell hardware has already demonstrated a Compression Ratio (CR) of over 400, which is significant greater the then CR of 20 needed to compress hydrogen from 500 psi to 10,000 psi. Therefore a EHPC system with a EMA cell design and a large flow rate capacity would be a invaluable tool in the developemnt of a hydrogen based economy.
Project Library
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Johnson Space Center
(JSC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Houston, Texas |
| Skyre, Inc. | Supporting Organization |
Industry
Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)
|
East Hartford, Connecticut |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Connecticut
-
Texas
