System and method for electrochemical separation of oxygen

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11078578-B2
Application number	US-201815858187-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 25, 2018
Priority date	Jan 25, 2018
Publication date	Aug 3, 2021
Grant date	Aug 3, 2021

Abstract

A system comprises a first electrode, an electrolyte membrane, and a second electrode. The first electrode is configured to reduce oxygen in a gas to an oxygen carrier ion at an intermediate temperature. The electrolyte membrane is configured to transport the oxygen carrier ion, and the second electrode is configured to oxidize the oxygen carrier ion to an oxygen molecule. Oxidation of the oxygen molecule consumes less than four electrons.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a first electrode configured to reduce oxygen in a gas to an oxygen carrier ion at an intermediate temperature equal to or above 100° C. and equal to or less than 300° C.;
an electrolyte membrane configured to transport the oxygen carrier ion; and
a second electrode configured to receive the oxygen carrier ion and oxidize the oxygen carrier ion to an oxygen molecule, wherein oxidation of the oxygen molecule consumes less than four electrons.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte membrane comprises a nanoporous support and at least one of a poly(electrolyte) and an ionic liquid.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the nanoporous support comprises at least one of polyimide, polycarbonate, polytetrafluoroethylene, perflouroelastomer, alumina, zirconia, and silica.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the ionic liquid comprises cations of at least one of piperidium, phosphonium, pyridinium, pyrrolidinium, and ammonium.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the ionic liquid comprises anions of at least one of trifluoromethanesulfonate, hexafluorophosphate, trifluoromethanesulfonylimide, superoxide, and peroxide.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte membrane is configured to transport the oxygen carrier ion at a flux of at least 10 mol m −2 h −1 .

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the oxygen carrier ion is at least one of a superoxide, peroxide, and a nitrate ion.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte membrane comprises a polymer membrane configured to transport a superoxide ion.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second electrodes comprises a catalyst.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrolyte membrane has a thickness of less than about 250 μm.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an output oxygen stream coupled to the second electrode, wherein a ratio of partial pressure of oxygen in the output stream to partial pressure of oxygen in the gas is greater than 1.

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an output oxygen stream coupled to the second electrode, wherein the output oxygen stream has a higher pressure than the gas.

13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an output oxygen stream coupled to the second electrode, wherein the output oxygen stream has a partial pressure lower than about 0.05 bar.

14. An apparatus comprising:
a first system according to claim 1 ; and
a second system according to claim 1 .

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the first and second systems are connected in parallel.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the first and second systems are connected in series.

17. A method comprising:
receiving an input gas comprising oxygen;
contacting the gas with a first electrode of an electrochemical cell to reduce the oxygen to an oxygen carrier ion;
transporting the oxygen carrier ion across the cell through an electrolyte membrane;
oxidizing the oxygen carrier ion to form an oxygen molecule at a second electrode of the electrochemical cell; and
discharging an output oxygen gas,
wherein the method is performed at an intermediate temperature, equal to or above 100° C. and equal to or less than 300° C., and consumes less than four electrons per oxygen molecule.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the pressure of the input gas is greater than the pressure of the output oxygen gas.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the pressure of the output oxygen gas is greater than the pressure of the input gas.

Assignees

• Palo Alto Res Ct Inc

Inventors

• Desai Divyaraj
• Rivest Jessica Louis Baker

Classifications

• C25B9/75

  having bipolar electrodes · CPC title

• C25B9/77

  having diaphragms · CPC title

• H01M8/0289

  Means for holding the electrolyte (solid polymer electrolytes H01M8/1018) · CPC title

• C25B13/02

  characterised by shape or form · CPC title

• C25B1/02 Primary

  Hydrogen or oxygen · CPC title