Milan: Energy-efficient device to generate pure oxygen

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Researchers at the Politecnico di Milano and the Università degli Studi di Brescia, Italy, have patented an idea for a device designed to produce highly pure oxygen at low energy consumption. The device is based on the integration of a solid oxide fuel cell and a solid oxide electrolyser.

In the proposed arrangement, the fuel cell provides electricity, heat and H2O in vapour phase to the electrolyser, which carries out the inverse reactions of the fuel cell, tseparating H2O into H2 (for use as a fuel for the cell) and O2 (representing the yield of the system).

The Polictecnico says that simulations carried out in different operating conditions show that the integrated device consumes less than 0.25 kilowatt-hours per kilogram of pure O2 produced – comparable with the most efficient, cryogenic, large-scale air separation units, and an order of magnitude lower than small-scale systems based on the PSA technology.