Patent ID: 8172913

Claim:
A hydrogen separation unit with an array of planar members in a shared environment, comprising: a planar base with a top, bottom and outer side wall, the base having a plurality of solid extensions reaching inward from at least one side wall of the base forming a hollow region of channels within the base, wherein the hollow region is fluidly connected to one or more outlet port; a plurality of surface coated perforated plates containing a plurality of perforations having size between 0.01″ and 0.02″; said plurality of plates contain thickness of between 0.008″ and 0.02″; each of said plurality of plates contains open areas greater than 45%, and each of said perforated plates contains a surface coating except for a margin of between 0.09″ and 0.2″ from edges of said plates, wherein the surface coating is selected from said group consisting of titanium nitride, tungsten cobalt carbide, alumina, zirconia, yttria stabilized zirconia, and wherein the surface coating is of a thickness of between 3 and 20 microns; a plurality of planar hydrogen separation membranes in fluid communication with each other, such that the plurality of hydrogen separation membranes have a shared environment; and, a plurality of frames; wherein each of said perforated plates is disposed on a corresponding one of said top and bottom of said base and between said base and a corresponding one of said plurality of hydrogen separation membranes, and wherein each of said plurality of hydrogen separation membranes is disposed between a corresponding one of said plurality of perforated plates and a corresponding one of said plurality of frames.