Development and testing of a hydrogen diffusion barrier for the electrochemically-driven carbon dioxide separator
Date
2023
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Carbon capture and sequestration, both from point sources and diffuse sources through direct air capture, has been shown to be required to reach the current goals for tackling climate change. Electrochemical separation has been identified as a suitable method for efficient and scalable direct air capture. A technology based on electrochemical separation is the electrochemically-driven carbon dioxide separator (EDCS). ☐ The EDCS incorporates a carbon-composite anion exchange membrane (AEM) to provide a shortcut electronic pathway, thereby eliminating the need for expensive bipolar plates or current collectors and providing flexibility for scaling the EDCS to a diverse range of flow architectures. ☐ This design operates based on indirect control of the operating current density through dilution of the hydrogen stream, however this limits the scalability of the device and results in further downstream separation of the CO2 and diluent. ☐ In this dissertation, a hydrogen diffusion barrier is developed which will be able to command indirect control without requiring dilution. Various methods for testing and quantizing the hydrogen diffusion barrier are proposed, resulting in the final design of a polymer-coated sheet. ☐ Finally, the hydrogen diffusion barrier is incorporated in the EDCS to determine its effect on the performance, as well as the stability of the design. ☐ Future work will need to focus on transitioning the hydrogen diffusion barrier from a symmetric to an asymmetric design, as well as developing strategies for decreasing its cost.
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Keywords
Anion exchange membrane, Carbon capture, Carbon dioxide separator, Hydrogen