SBIR-STTR Award

NASA and many others often rely on delivery of cryogenic hydrogen to meet their facility needs. NASA's Stennis Space Center is one of the largest users of hydrogen, with the LH2 used as a fuel for cryogenic rocket engine testing. Other NASA centers including Kennedy Space Center, which utilizes hydrogen to support space shuttle launches, and many industrial locations also use significant amounts of hydrogen. Unfortunately extremely large amounts of hydrogen are lost during transfers and test operations due to boil-off resulting from heat transferred into the equipment, or by other means. Additionally, through test operations, hydrogen and helium become mixed and require separation to regain their value. This gaseous hydrogen is typically flared as a safety measure with little to no economic value or energy efficiency realized from the process. No economical means exists to safely capture, process and store, and simultaneously extract valuable energy, the large amounts of gaseous hydrogen released during NASA test operations, or in industrial applications where cryogenic hydrogen is used. The technologies developed to capture and clean the hydrogen must be cost effective and able to perform the recycling process in an in-situ rocket engine test area environment, and must comply with all safety and quality standards for this environment. Because cryogenic hydrogen is very pure, its recycle and recovery as a compressed gas can result in a valuable commodity and can provide the basis of a power generation system that conserves facility energy.This STTR project develops a Hydrogen-Based Energy Conservation System (HECS) that brings in gaseous hydrogen released from cryogenic storage or transfer or mixed hydrogen, helium stream from test operations, purifies the hydrogen and alternately electrochemically compresses it to commercial storage pressures (up to 6,000 psi) and reuses the hydrogen in a reaction with air to efficiently produce electricity.

Potential NASA Commercial Applications:
(Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The Hydrogen-Based Energy Conservation System (HECS) being developed as part of this STTR can be utilized to recover hydrogen from mixed gas streams resulting from rocket test operations and can reduce facility energy demand by efficiently generating electricity with this hydrogen. This technology can also be used to generate hydrogen for propulsion from reformed hydrocarbon fluids and alternately efficiently produce electricity for space bases and vehicles.

Potential NON-NASA Commercial Applications:
(Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The Hydrogen-Based Energy Conservation System (HECS) being developed as part of this STTR can be utilized to effectively separate hydrogen from reformate streams both in commercial hydrogen production facilities and in vehicles as well as generate electric power from this hydrogen. In addition, this technology can be used to purify and compress hydrogen from most mixed streams, particularly for applications including heat treating of metals, foods processing, and semiconductor production. In addition this system can be used to produce compressed hydrogen to generate mechanical work for powering tools and other devices.

Technology Taxonomy Mapping:
(NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.) Actuators & Motors Atmospheric Propulsion Conversion Distribution/Management Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients) Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Propulsion Fluids Fuels/Propellants Generation In Situ Manufacturing Launch Engine/Booster Processing Methods Resource Extraction Sources (Renewable, Nonrenewable) Spacecraft Design, Construction, Testing, & Performance (see also Engineering; Testing & Evaluation) Spacecraft Main Engine Storage

Sustainable Innovations is developing a technology for efficient separation and compression of hydrogen gas. The electrochemical hydrogen separator and compressor can actively remove hydrogen from a mixture and compress it to high pressure for storage or use. In applications where helium is used as a purge gas prior to the use of liquid hydrogen or use of cold hydrogen from cryogenic storage boil-off, the compressor system is suitable for separation of the hydrogen from the helium in the resulting mixed stream. This technology allows a significant portion of either gas to be recycled and conserved. In applications requiring recycling of helium where abundant hydrogen is present, it is practical to utilize the energy content of a portion of the hydrogen to power the electrochemical separation of hydrogen from the helium. This novel application leverages hydrogen that was destined for flaring and oxidizes it electrochemically to power separation of hydrogen from helium, thus allowing recovery of the helium and delivering net power.

Potential NASA Commercial Applications:
(Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The underlying technology is directly applicable to several important NASA applications. These include:- Recycling of hydrogen and helium used in rocket testing applications.- Recycling/compression of hydrogen used in space exploration applications- Generation of high pressure hydrogen for conducting mechanical work.- Creation of a large-scale electrochemical architecture for power and gas generation applications including electrolysis of water, fuel cells, and energy storage.



Potential NON-NASA Commercial Applications:
:
(Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The underlying technology directly benefits many commercial applications. These include:- Simple, high-pressure capable hydrogen compressors- Cryogenic hydrogen boil-off recovery- Efficient separation of hydrogen from helium at natural gas well sites- Separation and compression of hydrogen in various production processes, such as from steam methane reforming and stationary power fuel cells.- Creation of a large scale electrochemical cell architecture to support fuel cell, water electrolysis, regenerative fuel cell, and flow battery applications.

Technology Taxonomy Mapping:
(NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.) Conversion Distribution/Management Fluids Fuels/Propellants Generation Lifetime Testing Pressure & Vacuum Systems Remediation/Purification Sources (Renewable, Nonrenewable) Spacecraft Main Engine Storage Tools/EVA Tools