Anionic liquid piston compressor,ionic compressor orionic liquid piston pump is ahydrogen compressor based on anionic liquid piston instead of a metal piston as in a piston-metaldiaphragm compressor.[1]
An ionic liquid compressor takes advantage of two properties of ionic liquids—their virtually non-measurablevapor pressures and large temperature window for the liquid phase—in combination with the low solubility of some gases (e.g.hydrogen) in them. This insolubility is exploited by using the body of an ionic liquid tocompress hydrogen up to 1000 bar (14,500 psi)[2] inhydrogen filling stations. Linde's ionic liquid compressor reduced the number of moving parts from about 500 in a conventionalreciprocating compressor down to 8.[3]
Many seals and bearings were removed in the design as the ionic liquid does not mix with the gas.Service life is about 10 times longer than a regular reciprocating compressor with reduced maintenance during use, energy costs are reduced by as much as 20%. The heat exchangers that are used in a normal piston compressor are removed as the heat is removed in the cylinder itself where it is generated. Almost 100% of the energy going into the process is being used with little energy wasted as reject heat.[4]
Not to be confused with theion pump or the ionicliquid ring pump.
After the renewed interest in ionic liquids, research was done by proionic, an enterprise in the spin-off center "ZAT Center for applied Technology" of theUniversity of Leoben.[5][6] The system was demonstrated atZemships.[7][8]