Low Power Non Thermal Plasma Assisted Removal of Impurities for Biogas Purification

Leveraging biological waste, such as biogas, as feedstock for fuel cell application is a key focus area for both Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Energy (DOE) and is in line with the Department of Navy's vision of increasing the use of renewable energy and alternative power sources for future energy demand. This SBIR Phase II proposal is focused on developing an innovative, compact and no maintenance Waste to Energy (WTE) system generating fuel cell electrical power from biogas. The most critical piece for fuel cell application is the purification of biogas. Biogas contains substantial amounts of impurities such as H2S, siloxanes and halogenated organics, which are harmful for fuel cell applications. The Phase I project demonstrated a novel, compact and low maintenance biogas purifier which removes these three impurities in a single step for downstream fuel cell application. The target of the Phase II program is to develop a compact, easily operable and no maintenance complete biogas to fuel cell electricity system. The specific goal of the Phase II project is to demonstrate a compact 2 kW fuel cell power system operating on biogas and demonstrate its stability of operation to potentially achieve 2000 hours of unattended operation.