COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS (CNG) REFORMER TO SUPPLY HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

"Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) generate high-quality electricity at-the-market, operate with negligible heat and noise signatures and are nearly benign environmentally. The scientific feasibility, engineering requirements and scalingfunctions necessary to develop innovative, cost-effective and commercially viable hydrogen production platforms necessary to fully integrate fuel cells (FC) and hydrogen-fueled ground support equipment into DoD's advanced power generation requirements hasbeen established in Phase I of this Program. The objective of this research project proposal is to continue development of a prototype system design which has demonstrated feasibility to operate on natural gas or propane; both well-established burner-tipfeedstock at 100% of CONUS and 85% of world-wide base operations. The proposed design is one-twentieth in size to today's typical hydrogen fueling process systems and enhanced beta designs utilizing porous media reforming demonstrate the feasibility tooperate on JP-logistic fuels. Phase II will pursue advanced development of a small-scale hydrogen production prototype for direct fueling PEMFCs and simultaneous processing of high-purity hydrogen for multiple FC applications on the USAF flightline.Performance and durability validation testing is proposed to be performed by the DoD Fuel Cell Test & Evaluation Center for credibility toward commercialization."