Development of diesel pre-reformer for methane rich gas production

Abstract

High temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are high efficiency electro chemical conversion devises used for transportation, auxiliary power generation (APU), stationary and distributed power generation applications. Unlike other low temperature fuel cell technologies, SOFC can use mixture CO and H2 rich reformate to produce power. Conventionally, auto thermal reforming (ATR) of liquid hydrocarbon fuel such as gasoline and diesel are used to produce syngas that can be integrated with SOFC unit for APU applications. However, the overall efficiency of the unit is lower than expected as the process in not thermally integrated to utilize the heat generated from the SOFC fuel cell. On the other hand, if the liquid hydrocarbon fuel is converted to methane rich fuel using catalyst based pre-reforming, the overall SOFC unit efficiency will improve significantly due to internal reforming of methane inside the SOFC stack by utilizing all the heat generated during the electrochemical reaction. Pre-reforming is operated at 500-600 ºC and needs high activity catalyst. In this study, an advanced pre-reformer catalyst is developed to produce methane rich gas from diesel fuel for APU applications. Pre-reforming catalysts are developed to improve catalytic activity and stability. Structured pre-reforming catalysts are also investigated to reduce pressure drop, catalyst use, to enhance pre-reforming reactions that are suitable for mobile applications. Finally, kW class diesel pre-reformer is designed and tested for its performance and stability. A detail description of results obtained from this study will be discussed and presented.