Stabilized Nano-ZnO for Diesel Desulfurization for Fuel Cell Applications

"The SBIR Phase I project study will be on the development of stabilized nano-ZnO adsorbents for diesel desulfurization for fuel cell applications. Direct Fuel Cell Technology (DFC) is unique in that it can operate directly on hydrocarbon fuels without theuse of an external reformer to generate hydrogen. Logistic fuels are desirable fuel choice for military based fuel cell applications. However, In order to use a distillate fuel in a fuel cell power plant it must be processed to convert to a fuel useable bythe fuel cell. Diesel fuels consists high sulfur in the range of 0.5 - 1.0 wt%. Sulfur deactivates catalysts used for hydrogen generation as well as electrode catalysts in fuel cells. In addition, sulfur will emit in the form of toxic emissions intoenvironment. Thus, sulfur will be removed from diesel fuels using hydrodesulfurization followed by adsorption process. ZnO based adsorbents from commercial sources provide low capacity for sulfur removal, resulting large bed size, cost and overall effecton fuel cell performance. Novel stabilized nano-ZnO desulfurizer adsorbents for diesel processing is proposed in this project that would enable high capacity for sulfur, stable and low-cost. The proposed concept is based on synthesis of nano-ZnO havinglarge surface area and coated with porous ZrO2 and TiO2 stabilizers to reduce sintering for stable operation. Also, stabilized nano-ZnO adsorbents are easy for regeneration with fuel cell cat