Distillate fuel-oil processing for phosphoric acid fuel-cell power plants

Technical Report · Fri Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7040767· OSTI ID:7040767

Ushiba, K. K.

The current efforts to develop distillate oil-steam reforming processes are reviewed, and the applicability of these processes for integration with the fuel cell are discussed. The development efforts can be grouped into the following processing approaches: high-temperature steam reforming (HTSR); autothermal reforming (ATR); autothermal gasification (AG); and ultra desulfurization followed by steam reforming. Sulfur in the feed is a key problem in the process development. A majority of the developers consider sulfur as an unavoidable contaminant of distillate fuel and are aiming to cope with it by making the process sulfur-tolerant. In the HTSR development, the calcium aluminate catalyst developed by Toyo Engineering represents the state of the art. United Technology (UTC), Engelhard, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are also involved in the HTSR research. The ATR of distillate fuel is investigated by UTC and JPL. The autothermal gasification (AG) of distillate fuel is being investigated by Engelhard and Siemens AG. As in the ATR, the fuel is catalytically gasified utilizing the heat generated by in situ partial combustion of feed, however, the goal of the AG is to accomplish the initial breakdown of the feed into light gases and not to achieve complete conversion to CO and H/sub 2/. For the fuel-cell integration, a secondary reforming of the light gases from the AG step is required. Engelhard is currently testing a system in which the effluent from the AG section enters the steam-reforming section, all housed in a single vessel. (WHK)

• Research Organization: Catalytica Associates, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-77ET13323
• OSTI ID: 7040767
• Report Number(s): DOE/ET/13323-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020400 -- Petroleum-- Processing
08 HYDROGEN
080103 -- Hydrogen-- Production-- Steam Reformer Processes
080109 -- Hydrogen-- Production-- Partial Oxidation Processes
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
300503* -- Fuel Cells-- Materials
Components
& Auxiliaries
ACID ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELLS
CARBON
CATALYSTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DEPOSITS
DESULFURIZATION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DISTILLATES
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL CELLS
FUEL OILS
FUEL SYSTEMS
FUELS
GAS GENERATORS
GASIFICATION
HEATING OILS
HYDROGEN GENERATORS
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
LIQUID FUELS
METALS
NONMETALS
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DISTILLATES
PETROLEUM FRACTIONS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
POISONING
REFORMER PROCESSES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SOOT
STEAM REFORMER PROCESSES
SULFUR
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES