Advanced Catalyst For Microchannel Fuel Reformer

The rapid start time, quiet operation and high efficiency of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells provide an ideal solution as the portable power source for the individual soldier for extended missions. However, supply of hydrogen gas to the PEM fuel cell at the point of use remains a problem. The use of a portable fuel reformer offers an attractive technology to provide hydrogen to the fuel cell while using a hydrocarbon liquid fuel as the primary fuel source. Steam reforming of natural gas is an established process on an industrial scale but it has proven to be difficult to scale down into a compact, efficient system that can process liquid fuels because of sulfur poisoning and system integration and thermal management issues. To address these challenges InnovaTek proposes to develop a microchannel fuel processor to produce pure hydrogen in the range of 20 to 400 cc/second for a multi-kW PEM fuel cell. The proposed fuel reformer will be built on microchannel architecture to achieve size, weight and thermal efficiency requirements. The system will produce hydrogen from catalytic steam reforming of readily available fuels, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, through the use of InnovaTek's proprietary sulfur-tolerant catalyst.