A Non-catalytic JP-8 Reformer

Partial oxidation has been considered as the simplest fuel reforming method that does not require water management. However, the higher hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds in military fuel create significantly challenging for catalyst based reformer. An innovative non-catalytic thermal partial oxidation (TPOX) reformer has been developed at Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT). The proposed Swiss-roll reformer effectively recuperates the exothermic heat from the thermal partial oxidation reaction and enables super-adiabatic reaction temperature that promotes the reforming reaction without using a catalyst. The organosulfur compounds in the fuel can be converted into hydrogen sulfide that is easily removed by sorbent. With effective heat recirculation, high chemical enthalpy remains in the reformate (high reforming efficiency). The proposed reforming technology is very simple, compact, light weight, and minimized parasitic power consumption, and therefore it is well-suited for the applications such as portable fuel cell power generation.