Ionic liquid piston compressor
Encyclopedia
An ionic liquid piston compressor, ionic compressor or ionic liquid piston pump is a hydrogen compressor
based on an ionic liquid
piston instead of a metal piston as in a piston-metal diaphragm compressor
.
s in combination with a large temperature window for the liquid phase. The solubility of hydrogen
in ionic liquids is very low. This insolubility is exploited by using a body of ionic liquid to compress hydrogen
up to 450 bar in hydrogen filling stations
; and in so doing they reduced the number of moving parts from about 500 in a conventional reciprocating compressor
down to 8.
Not to be confused with the ion pump
or the ionic liquid ring pump.
. The system was demonstrated at Zemships
.
Hydrogen compressor
A hydrogen compressor is a device that increases the pressure of hydrogen by reducing its volume. Compression of hydrogen gas naturally increases its temperature, due to Charles' Law....
based on an ionic liquid
Ionic liquid
An ionic liquid is a salt in the liquid state. In some contexts, the term has been restricted to salts whose melting point is below some arbitrary temperature, such as . While ordinary liquids such as water and gasoline are predominantly made of electrically neutral molecules, ILs are largely made...
piston instead of a metal piston as in a piston-metal diaphragm compressor
Diaphragm compressor
A diaphragm compressor is a variant of the classic reciprocating compressor with backup and piston rings and rod seal. The compression of gas occurs by means of a flexible membrane, instead of an intake element. The back and forth moving membrane is driven by a rod and a crankshaft mechanism. Only...
.
Principle
The ionic compressor exploits some gases' insolubility in ionic liquids - the virtually non-measurable vapor pressureVapor pressure
Vapor pressure or equilibrium vapor pressure is the pressure of a vapor in thermodynamic equilibrium with its condensed phases in a closed system. All liquids have a tendency to evaporate, and some solids can sublimate into a gaseous form...
s in combination with a large temperature window for the liquid phase. The solubility of hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
in ionic liquids is very low. This insolubility is exploited by using a body of ionic liquid to compress hydrogen
Hydrogen compressor
A hydrogen compressor is a device that increases the pressure of hydrogen by reducing its volume. Compression of hydrogen gas naturally increases its temperature, due to Charles' Law....
up to 450 bar in hydrogen filling stations
Hydrogen station
A hydrogen station is a storage or filling station for hydrogen, usually located along a road or hydrogen highway, or at home as part of the distributed generation resources concept. The stations are usually intended to power vehicles, but can also be used to power small devices. Vehicles use...
; and in so doing they reduced the number of moving parts from about 500 in a conventional reciprocating compressor
Reciprocating compressor
A reciprocating compressor or piston compressor is a positive-displacement compressor that uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure....
down to 8.
Not to be confused with the ion pump
Ion pump (physics)
An ion pump is a type of vacuum pump capable of reaching up to 10−11 mbar under ideal conditions. An ion pump ionizes gases and employs a strong electrical potential, typically 3kV to 7kV, to accelerate them into a solid electrode...
or the ionic liquid ring pump.
History
After the renewed interest in ionic liquids, research was done by proionic, an enterprise in the spin-off center "ZAT Center for applied Technology" of the University of LeobenUniversity of Leoben
The University of Leoben, in the town of Leoben, Austria, is the country's university for mining, metallurgy, and materials.It was founded on 4 November 1840, as the Steiermärkisch-Ständische Montanlehranstalt in Styria, Austria's mining region. In 1848 Peter Tunner relocated the university to the...
. The system was demonstrated at Zemships
Zemships
The project Zemships developed a 100 person hydrogen-power passenger ship, power-assisted by an electric motor that gets its electricity from a fuel cell. The first boat operates on the Alster in Hamburg since 2008...
.
See also
- Electrochemical hydrogen compressorElectrochemical hydrogen compressorAn electrochemical hydrogen compressor is a hydrogen compressor where hydrogen is supplied to the anode, and compressed hydrogen is collected at the cathode with an exergy efficiency of 70 to 80% for pressures up to 10,000 psi or 700 bars.-Principle:...
- Guided rotor compressorGuided rotor compressorThe guided rotor compressor is a positive displacement rotary gas compressor. The compression volume is defined by the trochoidally rotating rotor mounted on an eccentric drive shaft with a typical 80 to 85% adiabatic efficiency.-History:...
- Hydride compressorHydride compressorA hydride compressor is a hydrogen compressor based on metal hydrides with absorption of hydrogen at low pressure and desorption of hydrogen at high pressure by raising the temperature with an external heat source like a heated waterbed or electric coil....
- Linear compressorLinear compressorA linear compressor is a gas compressor where the piston moves along a linear track to compress to minimize energy loss during conversion.-History:...
- Timeline of hydrogen technologiesTimeline of hydrogen technologiesTimeline of hydrogen technologies — A timeline of the history of hydrogen technology.-1600s:* 1625 - First description of hydrogen by Johann Baptista van Helmont...