Permeation Challenge Project Background:

Messer's industrial gas steam reforming hydrogen production facility operates at temperatures up to 900°C and pressures reaching 200 bar, with a furnace environment maintained at millibar-level low pressure. Under these conditions, hydrogen easily diffuses into sensors, causing drift and failure.

Key Challenges:

• Extreme operating conditions: high temperature, high pressure, and hydrogen permeation;
• Poor stability and significant drift in micro-pressure measurements;
• Requirement for long-term maintenance-free operation and high safety standards.

Selected Product:

Endress+Hauser Cerabar PMP71B (same platform as PMP55) pressure transmitter featuring a 25 μm gold-plated diaphragm, HART + Bluetooth communication, and SIL2 certification.

Application Results:

• The gold-plated diaphragm completely prevents hydrogen penetration, enabling 24 months of continuous operation with zero drift and zero failures;
• Micro-pressure measurement accuracy reaches ±0.075% at millibar levels;
• Remote configuration via Bluetooth reduces maintenance time by 60%;
• Established as a benchmark solution in the hydrogen production industry.