Description: Skyre is commercializing electrochemical hydrogen separation and compression technology under the trade name “H2RENEW™. The proposed effort will focus on creating a fully-integrated H2RENEW system package along with the hydrogen pump electrochemical cell stack developed as part of the SBIR program. The system package brings together both fluids and electrical integration to support operation of the electrochemical cell stack. This integration brings mission utility to the package solution and will be designed in a modular form for both commercial and upcoming NASA applications wherein expanded capacity can be handled through additional system modules.The program activity will be centered around maturation of the technology target reduction of system material cost from $150 K/system to $100 K/system, increasing hydrogen output pressure capability from 200 psi to 1,000 psi, and creating a fully-integrated production solution.

Benefits: One NASA application is the separation of helium from hydrogen in launch operations. Gaseous helium is the only suitable gas for purging liquid hydrogen (LH2) rocket fuel lines due to helium’s chemical inertness and low boiling point, which enable it to remain in the gas phase during the purging process. Others include separation of hydrogen for life support in manned space environments such as ISS or long-term space missions and resource utilization in Lunar or Mars bases where critical resources such as hydrogen must be conserved.

H2RENEW™ electrochemical hydrogen separation and compression technology can be used for hydrogen recycling in heat treating and other industrial processes where hydrogen is used for its chemical properties and the majority is vented. H2RENEW can also be used to compress hydrogen, as is required for fuel cell vehicle fueling.