LAUSR

Abstract This paper presents a new membrane reactor concept for ultra-pure hydrogen production with integrated CO2 capture: the membrane-assisted gas switching reforming (MA-GSR). This concept integrates alternating exothermic and endothermic redox reaction stages in a single fluidized bed consisting of catalytically active oxygen-carrier particles, by switching the feed between air and methane/steam, where the produced hydrogen is selectively removed via Pd-based membranes. This concept results in overall autothermal conditions and allows easier operation at high pressure compared to alternative novel technologies. In this work, the MA-GSR concept is demonstrated at lab scale using four metallic supported membranes (Pd–Ag based) immersed into a fluidized bed consisting of a Ni-based oxygen carrier. The performance of the reactor has been tested under different experimental operating conditions and high methane conversions (>50%) have been obtained, well above the thermodynamic equilibrium conversion of a conventional fluidized bed as a result of the selective H2 extraction, with (ultra-pure) H2 recoveries above 20% at relatively low temperatures (