TOKYO, Jul 09, 2008 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- NPPJF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Nippon Seisen Co. (TSE:5659) has developed a highly efficient separation membrane for extracting high-purity hydrogen from natural gas and city gas.
The separation membrane is made from a 15-micron-thick film of a palladium alloy welded into a seamless cylindrical shape. When molecular hydrogen makes contact with this palladium alloy, the molecule splits into the separate hydrogen atoms, which can pass through the spaces between the alloy crystals. The process yields better than 99.9999% pure hydrogen.
Nothing other than hydrogen can pass through the membrane, so no special equipment to remove impurities is required.
Using this new separation membrane, hydrogen generation machinery can be designed five times smaller and at a fifth the cost. In addition, hydrogen can be made using just a quarter of the energy, the company said.
Nippon Seisen hopes to have a device ready for marketing in 2009 that can be used to supply hydrogen to fuel cells for cars and homes.