The use of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell system (PEMFCS) operated in an electrolytic mode at its limiting current density is demonstrated as a novel method to separate gaseous hydrogen (GH 2 ) from gaseous helium (GHe). The amount of GH 2 removed was determined by measuring the inlet and outlet GH 2 mole fraction and the rate of the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) using different techniques. The HOR was shown to be well-modeled as a first order mass transport limited process for dilute GH 2 streams at the limiting current density. A differential reactor model based on first order kinetics is presented to obtain an estimate of the active area required to remove specific quantities of GH 2 . The active area and total volumetric flow rate of gas in the feed were found to be critical design considerations.

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