Patent ID: 8568582

Claim:
A method for selectively removing hydrogen gas from a hydrogen-containing fluid volume, comprising: providing a proton exchange membrane (PEM) selectively permeable to hydrogen by exclusively conducting hydrogen ions; providing metal deposited as layers onto opposite sides or faces of the PEM to form a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA), each layer functioning as an electrode so that the MEA functions as an electrochemical cell in which the ionic conductors are hydrogen ions, and the MEA functioning as a hydrogen selective membrane (HSM) when located at the boundary between a hydrogen-containing fluid volume and a second fluid; and using the MEA to remove hydrogen in a solar parabolic trough power plant by removing hydrogen from a heat transfer fluid that is circulating in the solar parabolic power plant, from an annular volume of a parabolic trough receiver, from a head-space volume of a liquid-phase heat transfer fluid, or from a liquid-phase heat transfer fluid in a transfer line.