Three-stage purification train produces ultrapure hydrogen gas at 1000 psi from K-bottles of high-purity hydrogen. The continuous process incorporates deoxidation and dehydration units and a molecular sieve

Walter, R. J.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

High-Pressure 
Hydrogen Gas 
April 1967	 Brief 67-10078 
NASA TECH BRIEF I& 
NASA Tech Briefs are issued to summarize specific innovations derived from the U.S. space program, 
to encourage their commercial application. Copies are available to the public at 15 cents each 
from the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Springfield, Virginia 22151. 
Purification Train Produces Ultrapure Hydrogen Gas 
The problem: 
To devise a continuous process for producing ultra-
pure hydrogen gas at 1000 psi from a commercially 
available supply (K-bottles) of high-purity hydrogen. 
The solution: 
A three-stage purification train incorporating a 
deoxidation unit, a dehydration (desiccation) unit, and 
a "molecular sieve". 
How it's done: 
The active components in the purification train, 
obtained from commercial sources, are packed in 
high-pressure vessels. The first vessel, the deoxidant 
unit, contains palladium black on an asbestos sub-
strate which catalyzes the reaction of any free oxygen 
in the supply gas with an equivalent amount of hydro-
gen to form water vapor. The desiccant, barium 
oxide, in the second vessel absorbs the water vapor 
formed in the deoxidant unit. The "molecular sieve" 
is a bed of a powdered (0.001-inch particles) synthetic 
zeolite enclosed in a high-pressure vessel which is 
immersed in a liquid nitrogen bath. The zeolite at the 
temperature of liquid nitrogen absorbs all contami-
nant gases composed of molecules having a diameter 
greater than approximately 5 angstroms (molecular 
diameter of hydrogen = 2 angstroms). The equilibrium 
partial pressures of any of these gases over the zeolite
are sufficiently low to ensure that the concentrations 
of each of these gases in the hydrogen product stream 
are less than 50 parts per billion. 
Notes: 
1. The deoxidant unit will remain effective over long 
periods of operation, without regeneration. The 
other two units must be periodically regenerated by 
heating. Parallel installations of these two units 
will enable in-place regeneration, without interrup-
tion of service. 
2. Inquiries concerning this invention may be di-
rected to:
Technology Utilization Officer 
Marshall Space Flight Center 
Huntsville, Alabama 35812 
Reference: B67-10078 
Patent status: 
Inquiries about obtaining rights for the commercial 
use of this invention may be made to NASA, Code 
GP, Washington, D.C. 20546.
Source: R. J. Walter
of North American Aviation, Inc. 
under contract to
Marshall Space Flight Center
(M-FS-191 3)
Category 03 
This document was prepared under the sponsorship of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration. Neither the United States 
Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States
Government assumes any liability resulting from the use of the 
information contained in this document, or warrants that such use 
will be free from privately owned rights.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19670000078 2020-03-11T20:44:08+00:00Z


Purification train produces ultrapure hydrogen gas

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NASA Technical Reports Server