{{Short description, Variant of the reciprocating compressor A diaphragm compressor is a variant of the classic

reciprocating compressor A reciprocating compressor or piston compressor is a positive-displacement compressor that uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure. Pressures of up to 5,000 PSIG are commonly produced by multistage reciprocating ...

with backup and piston rings and rod seal. The compression of gas occurs by means of a flexible membrane, instead of an intake element. The back and forth moving membrane is driven by a rod and a crankshaft mechanism. Only the membrane and the compressor box come in touch with pumped gas. For this reason this construction is the best suited for pumping toxic and explosive gases. The membrane has to be reliable enough to take the strain of pumped gas. It must also have adequate chemical properties and sufficient temperature resistance. A diaphragm compressor is the same as a membrane compressor.

Invention of the diaphragm compressor

In the late 19th century William Burton started a workshop building pumps and air compressors at Nogent-sur-Oise, 60km north of Paris, France. Henri Corblin, generally recognised as the inventor of the metallic diaphragm compressor, was based nearby in Paris itself and in 1923 he received a US patent for his invention and design work.

Compression of hydrogen gas

The photograph included in this section depicts a three-stage diaphragm compressor used to compress

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

gas to 6,000 psi (41 MPa) for use in a prototype hydrogen and

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...

(CNG) fueling station built in downtown

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

by the

Arizona Public Service Arizona Public Service (APS) is the largest electric utility in Arizona, United States. Since 1985, it has been the principal subsidiary of publicly traded S&P 500 member Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, known as AZP Group until 1987. Pinnacl ...

company (an electric utilities company).

Reciprocating compressor A reciprocating compressor or piston compressor is a positive-displacement compressor that uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure. Pressures of up to 5,000 PSIG are commonly produced by multistage reciprocating ...

s were used to compress the

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

.Alternative Fuel (Hydrogen) Pilot Plant Design Report
(Report INEEL / EXT-O3-00976 of the

Idaho National Laboratory Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. While the laboratory does other research, historically it has been involved with nu ...

of the U.S. Department of Energy) The prototype alternative

fueling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gaso ...

was built in compliance with all of the prevailing safety, environmental and building codes in Phoenix to demonstrate that such fueling stations could be built in urban areas. Hydrogen compression can also be achieved without the use of a compressor in

high pressure electrolysis High-pressure electrolysis (HPE) is the electrolysis of water by decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2) due to the passing of an electric current through the water. The difference with a standard proton exchange me ...

, or with an

ionic liquid piston compressor An ionic liquid piston compressor, ionic compressor or ionic liquid piston pump is a hydrogen compressor based on an ionic liquid piston instead of a metal piston as in a piston-metal diaphragm compressor. Principle An ionic liquid compressor tak ...

References

External links

Compressor CFM Calculator
Gas compressors