Organic hydride production apparatus and method for producing organic hydride

Abstract

An organic hydride production apparatus includes: an electrolyte membrane having proton conductivity; a cathode that includes a cathode catalyst layer used to hydrogenate a hydrogenation target substance using protons to produce an organic hydride and also includes a cathode chamber; an anode that includes an anode catalyst layer used to oxidize water to produce protons and also includes an anode chamber; and a gas introduction unit that introduces, into the anolyte at a certain position, a certain gas used to remove at least one of the hydrogenation target substance and the organic hydride that have passed through the electrolyte membrane and been mixed into the anolyte.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An organic hydride production apparatus, comprising:
 an electrolyte membrane having proton conductivity;   a cathode, provided on one side of the electrolyte membrane, that comprises a cathode catalyst layer used to hydrogenate a hydrogenation target substance using protons to produce an organic hydride and also comprises a cathode chamber that houses the cathode catalyst layer;   an anode, provided opposite to the one side of the electrolyte membrane, that comprises an anode catalyst layer used to oxidize water in an anolyte to produce protons and also comprises an anode chamber that houses the anode catalyst layer; and   a gas introduction unit that introduces, into the anolyte at a predetermined position, a predetermined gas used to remove at least one of the hydrogenation target substance and the organic hydride that have passed through the electrolyte membrane and been mixed into the anolyte.   
     
     
         2 . The organic hydride production apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an anolyte storage tank that stores the anolyte; and   a circulation passage that connects the anolyte storage tank and the anode, wherein   the gas introduction unit introduces the gas into the anolyte in at least one of the anode chamber, the anolyte storage tank, and the circulation passage.   
     
     
         3 . The organic hydride production apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the gas introduction unit introduces the gas into the anolyte in the anode chamber. 
     
     
         4 . The organic hydride production apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined gas is at least one selected from a group including air, nitrogen, argon, and helium. 
     
     
         5 . A method for producing an organic hydride, comprising:
 supplying an anolyte containing water to an anode catalyst layer and producing protons by electrolysis of the water;   supplying a hydrogenation target substance to a cathode catalyst layer and hydrogenating the hydrogenation target substance using the protons that have passed through an electrolyte membrane, thereby producing an organic hydride; and   introducing a predetermined gas into the anolyte and removing, from the anolyte, at least one of the hydrogenation target substance and the organic hydride that have passed through the electrolyte membrane and been mixed into the anolyte.