OXY-Autothermal Reformer (OXY-ATR)
"We put the fuel in fuel cells®"
The OXY-Autothermal Reformer operates on Desulfurized Natural Gas and has targeted applications for Hydrogen/Syngas Generation, Chemical Processing and Industrial Processes.
COMPACT
Patented Microlith® catalyst technology enables extremely high power density reactors for fuel reforming.
ECONOMICAL
An economic alternative to steam reforming for small & medium on-site “merchant market”. This system produces a high hydrogen yield that is comparable to steam reforming. Avoided energy cost due to exothermic nature of reaction.
THERMALLY INTEGRATED
A thermally integrated steam generator internal to the pressurized reformer provides the necessary thermal input to superheat the incoming steam in order to achieve the desired steam to carbon ratios when combined with the incoming ambient temperature gas streams. It can operate on preheated or cold fuel, saturated steam and oxygen.
RAPID RESPONSE
The system start-up time is less than 1 hour and transient response is fast with power increases from 50 – 100 % occurring in less than 10 minutes.
ADAPTABLE OUTLET COMPOSITION
With the addition of an inlet slip stream of CO2, the outlet composition can be adjusted to provide H2:CO ratio’s from 2.0 – 2.7.
HIGH PRESSURE OPERATION
The system is capable of operating at up to 200 PSI in order to provide high pressure, hydrogen rich syngas on demand.
SCALABLE
Reactor and system design is easily scalable in order to provide higher or lower fuel processing throughput as desired.
PCI’s OXY-Autothermal Reforming system technology utilizes our patented Microlith® catalyst to convert Natural Gas fuel to a Hydrogen rich syngas for use in chemical processing and industrial process applications. Natural Gas, Steam and Oxygen (as well as Nitrogen for startup) is fed to the skid and a reformate gas consisting H2, CO2, CO and trace CH4 is produced in an on demand fashion. The system is capable of providing the syngas at pressures up to 200 PSI and the outlet composition can be adapted to the individual application to provide H2:CO ratio’s from 2.0 – 2.7. The skid is weather resistant and climate controlled so that it can be located in outdoor environments and operate year round in a wide range of temperatures and conditions, with a small control panel and user interface located remotely for ease of operation.
Water Gas Shift and PROX Fuel Processor Catalytic Reactors
"We put the fuel in fuel cells®"
PCI is developing water gas shift and selective CO oxidation (aka PROX) catalytic reactors for integration into fuel processing and fuel cell power generation systems.
PCI's Water Gas Shift and PROX technologies developed under NSF, Navy and internal programs have demonstrated highly selective conversion of CO in an extremely small package. The Water Gas Shift technology reduces CO concentration in the reformate stream to ~ 0.5% (dependant upon system specifications) with low methanation. PCI's PROX technology further reduces the CO concentration to below 10 ppm, while consuming less than 3% of the hydrogen in the reformate. Technology attributes are highlighted in the table below.
Attributes
| Parameter | WGS | PROX |
| Power Density (kW/L) | >25 | >30 |
| Specific Power (kW/Kg) | >28 | >35 |
| CO Concentration Output (%) | 0.5% | 10 ppm |
| Transient [10-100% power] (Seconds) |
10 | 3 |
| Start-up (Seconds) | <30 | <30 |
Assumption: 18 SLPM H2 required for 1 kWe from fuel cell
All fuel processing reactors are customized to optimize performance within the fuel processor/fuel cell system.
Contact PCI to learn more about how our solutions may be adapted for your needs.
Microlith® Fuel Reformer
"We put the fuel in fuel cells®"
PCI is developing several fuel reforming catalytic reactors for integration into fuel processor and fuel cell power systems including:
- Catalytic Partial Oxidation (CPOX) of methane, propane, gasoline, Jet A, JP-8 and diesel
- Autothermal Reforming (ATR) of gasoline, Jet A, JP-5, JP-8 and diesel
- Oxidative Steam Reforming (OSR) of methanol
- Steam Reforming (SR) of methane, diesel
PCI's CPOX technology is being developed under NSF, DoD, NASA, industrial customer and internal programs for gas turbine, diesel engine and fuel cell power generation. Fueled by natural gas, PCI's CPOX technology has demonstrated steady operation at up to 16 atm. and power densities up to 30 MW/liter. Fueled by liquid fuels, PCI's CPOX technology has demonstrated cold start-up and sulfur tolerance.
PCI's ATR technology is being developed under internal, DoD, DOE and NASA programs for automotive, power generation and aircraft APU applications. Our ATR technology has demonstrated complete conversion of liquid fuels at low S:C ratio (less than 2), multi-fuel capability, and sulfur tolerance. This technology is also being developed for applications into Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and PEM and High Temperature PEM fuel cell systems.
10 KWE JP-8 FUEL PROCESSOR FOR PEM APPLICATIONS
PCI's OSR technology for reforming methanol based fuels was developed under a DoD program for military portable power and has demonstrated thermal efficiency greater than 87% with CO concentration in the reformate as low as 1.2%.
PCI is developing a compact steam reforming reactor (SR). It operates with near equilibrium product composition with complete fuel conversion. The key design novelties are a flameless catalytic oxidizer (that avoids high flame temperatures) and high heat flux between the closely integrated endothermic and exothermic zones (facilitated by the use of high surface Microlith substrates). Limited testing has shown sulfur tolerance of up to 25 ppm fuel-sulfur. Long term tests are ongoing.
PCI's catalytic fuel reforming reactors are extremely compact, and have been demonstrated to meet or exceed DOE, DoD and industrial goals for weight and volume for on-board fuel reforming for automotive applications. Other applications include fuel reforming for hydrogen injection into IC engines and gas turbines and for diesel NOx reduction.
All fuel reformer catalytic reactors are customized to optimize performance within the fuel reformer/processor system.
Contact PCI to learn more about how our solutions may be adapted for your needs.
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Processor
"We put the fuel in fuel cells®"
PCI is developing an integrated fuel processor for liquid fuels for application in PEM and High Temperature PEM fuel cell systems. Building upon its ultra-compact fuel reformer and fuel reforming catalytic reactor technologies, PCI is optimizing its fuel reformer and fuel processor technologies for the size, weight and performance needed to enable liquid-fueled PEM fuel cell systems under multiple Army and Navy programs.
PCI's Microlith®; Compact Logistics Fuel ProcessorTM System for High Temperature PEMs and PEMs consists of an integrated fuel/air/steam injector, autothermal reformer (ATR), heat exchanger, sulfur trap and water gas shift reactor. The system is designed to take in medium sulfur fuel (<400 ppm sulfur) and provide reformate with <1 ppm sulfur for use in a high Temperature PEM or with additional CO cleanup for use in a low temperature PEM fuel cell.
BOP components such as pumps and controller are separately packaged. This results in a portable and compact package. A photo of a 10 kWe fuel processor including water gas shift reactor is shown.
Attributes
| Characteristic | PCI Fuel Processor Status |
| System Net Rated Power (kWe) | 5 |
| Energy Efficiency (LHV H2 basis) | >73% (fuel quality and S/C ratio dependent) |
| Ultra-Compact | >0.4 kWe/l |
| Rapid Start-up | <10 minutes |
| Fast Transient Response | <5 sec |
| Fuel Flexible | Diesel, JP-8 and other low sulfur logistics fuels |
| Maximum Sulfur in product stream | <1 ppm (from 400 ppm S in fuel) |
| Turn Down Ratio | 5:1 |
Microlith® is a registered trademark of Precision Combustion, Inc.
Contact PCI to learn more about how our solutions may be adapted for your needs.
SOFC Fuel Processor
"We put the fuel in fuel cells®"
PCI has developed an ultra-compact fuel processor for solid oxide fuel cell systems. Current work with the Diesel and JP-8 fuel reformer has shown that autothermal reforming (ATR) is the best choice of technology to maintain a balance among size, weight, performance, durability, sulfur tolerance and total cost.
As shown in the diagram, water, fuel and air are fed to the fuel processor. The ATR is started with cold fuel and air and operated in CPOX mode until steam is generated within the reformer. It is then transitioned to ATR mode (<10 mins). After reforming, the sulfur is removed by passing through a sulfur trap. The reformate exiting the fuel processor has <1 ppm sulfur.
Additional components such as pumps and controller are separately packaged. A control algorithm is implemented for safe startup, operation and shutdown. The result is a readily manageable, portable and compact package. A photo of the nominal 2 kWe fuel processor, which has a volume of ~3 liters is shown.
Additional components such as pumps and controller are separately packaged and are controlled. The result is a manageable, portable and compact package. A photo of the nominal 2 kWe fuel processor, which has a volume under 3 liters is shown.
Attributes (2-5 kWe)
| Characteristic | PCI Reformer Status |
| System Net Rated Power (kWe) | 2-5 |
| Energy Efficiency (LHV H2+CO basis) | 80 – 85% (fuel quality dependent) |
| Power Density (We/L) | ~600 |
| Specific Power (We/kg) | ~600 |
| Start-up(Cold Start) | <0.5 minutes to light off; ~7 min to steady state |
| Transient Response | <2 sec |
| Thermal Cycles | 1000ºC/min;500 cycles |
| Lifetime (w/o replacement) | 1100 hours demonstrated; projected to be 5000–8000 |
| Maximum H2S in product stream | <1 ppm (from 400 ppm Sulfur in fuel) |
| Turn Down Ratio | 5:1 |
| Acoustic Signature (dBA @ 1m) | <50 |
Contact PCI to learn more about how our solutions may be adapted for your needs.