Logistic Fuel Sulfur Removal System for Shipboard Fuel Cell Applications

Future shipboard operations can beneficially use fuel cells operating on logistic fuels. However, these fuels have a high level of sulfur that needs to be removed before they can be used as a feedstock for fuel cell systems. Altex, a small businessentity, and Pennsylvania State University (PSU), a research organization, have teamed up under this STTR program to develop the innovative Logistic Fuel Sulfur Removal (LFSR) system. LFSR removes the fuel sulfur without detrimental impact on the fuelproperties and disposes the sulfur compounds into the seawater in an environmentally safe manner. Under the Phase I effort, analysis and testing will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of the LFSR for processing 500 BBL/day of Navy logistics fuel.These activities will provide the basis for demonstrating and delivering a prototype LFSR system in the Phase II effort. LFSR is scaleable and can be applied to several military and commercial applications. These applications include, military andcommercial marine applications, military and commercial transportation, power generation for remote stations, and distributed power generation. These are large markets that are currently limited by distillate fuel sulfur issues. LFSR will eliminate thisbarrier and allow penetration of these power generation markets. Considering all of these applications, LFSR could ultimately capture over a billion dollars market.