Metal/ceria water-gas shift catalysts for automotive polymer electrolyte fuel cell system.
Polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) systems are a leading candidate for replacing the internal combustion engine in light duty vehicles. One method of generating the hydrogen necessary for the PEFC is reforming a liquid fuel, such as methanol or gasoline, via partial oxidation, steam reforming, or autothermal reforming (a combination of partial oxidation and steam reforming). The H{sub 2}-rich reformate can contain as much as 10% carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide has been shown to poison the platinum-based anode catalyst at concentrations as low as 10 ppm,1 necessitating removal of CO to this level before passing the reformate to the fuel cell stack. The water-gas shift (WGS) reaction, CO + H{sub 2}O {rightleftharpoons} CO{sub 2} + H{sub 2}, is used to convert the bulk of the reformate CO to CO{sub 2}. Industrially, the WGS reaction is conducted over two catalysts, which operate in different temperature regimes. One catalyst is a FeCr mixed oxide, which operates at 350-450 C and is termed the high-temperature shift (HTS) catalyst. The second catalyst is a CuZn mixed oxide, which operates at 200-250 C and is termed the low-temperature shift (LTS) catalyst. Although these two catalysts are used industrially in the production of H{sub 2} for ammonia synthesis, they have major drawbacks that make them unsuitable for transportation applications. Both the LTS and the HTS catalysts must first be ''activated'' before being used. For example, the copper in the copper oxide/zinc oxide LTS catalyst must first be reduced to elemental copper in situ before it becomes active for the WGS reaction. This reduction reaction is exothermic and must be carried out under well- controlled conditions using a dilute hydrogen stream (1 vol% H{sub 2}) to prevent high catalyst temperatures, which can result in sintering (agglomeration) of the copper particles and loss of active surface area for the WGS reaction. Also, once the catalyst has been activated by reduction, it must be protected from exposure to ambient air to prevent re-oxidation of the copper. The activated catalyst must also be protected from the condensation of liquids, for example, during start-up or transient operation. For these reasons, a more thermally rugged catalyst is needed which has sufficient activity to operate at the low temperatures that are thermodynamically necessary to achieve low CO concentrations.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 793073
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/CMT/CP-106600; TRN: US200206%%260
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: AIChE 2002 Spring National Meeting, New Orleans, LA (US), 03/10/2002--03/14/2002; Other Information: PBD: 11 Jan 2002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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