Semester of Graduation

Summer 2026

Degree

Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering (MSPE)

Department

Craft and Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Natural hydrogen generated through serpentinization reactions has emerged as a promising low-carbon energy resource. However, serpentinization-derived gas streams commonly contain methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), requiring purification before hydrogen can be utilized in industrial applications. Membrane-based gas separation technologies offer a potentially cost-effective solution for hydrogen recovery; however, to the best of the author's knowledge, no previous studies have specifically investigated their application to serpentinization-derived gas streams.

This work evaluates the performance of two commercial polymeric membrane modules (Evonik and Generon) and one palladium-copper (Pd-Cu) membrane module (Okaya) for hydrogen recovery from gas compositions representative of serpentinization environments. An experimental apparatus was designed and constructed at Louisiana State University's PERTT Laboratory to simulate a hydrogen-producing well, consisting of a 20-ft stainless-steel pipe partially filled with water to reproduce gas-water interactions. Experiments were conducted using H₂/CH₄/CO₂ gas mixtures under varying feed pressures, flow rates, temperatures, and gas compositions.

Results showed that both polymeric membranes were highly effective at separating CH₄ from the gas mixture, increasing hydrogen concentration in the permeate stream from 57-60% in the feed to approximately 84-85% in favorable cases. However, both membranes exhibited limited H₂/CO₂ selectivity, resulting in significant CO₂ co-permeation. Feed gas recovery increased approximately linearly with pressure and decreased nonlinearly with flow rate. The Generon membrane achieved higher recovery rates than the Evonik membrane, although at the expense of separation efficiency. In contrast, the Pd-Cu membrane consistently delivered an almost pure hydrogen stream, demonstrating superior selectivity toward both CH₄ and CO₂, although its low throughput limited direct recovery assessment.

A scalability analysis was performed to estimate the number of membrane modules required to achieve a production target of 424,000 scf/day at 25% of minimum separation efficiency. The results indicate that membrane-based separation is a viable approach for hydrogen recovery from serpentinization-derived gas streams, with polymeric membranes offering higher recovery potential and palladium-based membranes providing superior hydrogen purity. These findings establish a foundation for future investigations involving long-term durability testing, multi-stage membrane systems, and techno-economic analysis.

Date

7-22-2026

Committee Chair

Waltrich, Paulo

LSU Acknowledgement

1

LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment

1

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