Carbon monoxide removal by preferential oxidation from hydrogen-rich gas streams

Technical Report · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987

OSTI ID:6560605

Vlastnik, V J; Armellini, F J; Jordano, F A

The use of methanol as an indirect transportation fuel is currently being investigated at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In the Los Alamos research, methanol is converted to hydrogen by catalytic steam reforming and water-gas shift reaction processes, The product hydrogen gas stream is then oxidized in a fuel cell operating at temperatures less than 200/degree/C to produce electrical power to drive a vehicle. Residual carbon monoxide contained in the hydrogen stream is a severe poison to the fuel cell electrode. In this study we examined the feasibility of removing the CO to levels of less than 0.1 mol%, while minimizing the consumption of hydrogen. This was to be accomplished by selective oxidation of the CO using a 0.5% platinum-on-alumina catalyst. Experimental results showed that approximately 90% of the CO and only 3% of the H/sub 2/ would be oxidized with an O/sub 2//CO ratio of 1, in total gas flows up to 1455 cm/sup 3//min (at 177/degree/C and 158.6 kPa (23 psia)), from a mixture that was initially 2% CO in H/sub 2/. When the O/sub 2//CO ratio was increased to 1.5, CO conversion was at or near 100%, and H/sub 2/ conversion rose to about 4%. In runs with excess CO/sub 2/ present, as would exist in an actual fuel cell, no significant effect on CO oxidation was noted. 122 refs., 16 figs., 5 tabs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA); Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Los Alamos, NM (USA). School of Chemical Engineering Practice-Los Alamos Station
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6560605
• Report Number(s): LA-11483-MS; MIT-LANL-1; ON: DE89006380
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
CARBON MONOXIDE
OXIDATION
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
ARGON
CATALYSIS
CATALYSTS
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DATA ANALYSIS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOWSHEETS
FORMATION HEAT
FUEL CELLS
HEAT TRANSFER
HYDROGEN
METHANOL
PLATINUM
REACTION HEAT
RECOMMENDATIONS
REMOVAL
ALCOHOLS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
DATA
DIAGRAMS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
ENTHALPY
FLUIDS
GASES
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
METALS
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLATINUM METALS
RARE GASES
SIMULATION
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
300501* - Fuel Cells- Design & Development
330800 - Emission Control- Alternative Fuels
330300 - Advanced Propulsion Systems- Electric-Powered Systems