WO2008069778A1 - Système épurateur à l'ammoniac régénérable pour pile à combustible - Google Patents

Système épurateur à l'ammoniac régénérable pour pile à combustible Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2008069778A1
WO2008069778A1 PCT/US2006/046184 US2006046184W WO2008069778A1 WO 2008069778 A1 WO2008069778 A1 WO 2008069778A1 US 2006046184 W US2006046184 W US 2006046184W WO 2008069778 A1 WO2008069778 A1 WO 2008069778A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
scrubber
regenerable
fuel
oxidant
support material
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2006/046184
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Richard D. Breault
Original Assignee
Utc Fuel Cells, Llc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Utc Fuel Cells, Llc filed Critical Utc Fuel Cells, Llc
Priority to PCT/US2006/046184 priority Critical patent/WO2008069778A1/fr
Publication of WO2008069778A1 publication Critical patent/WO2008069778A1/fr

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01D—SEPARATION
    • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
    • B01D53/34—Chemical or biological purification of waste gases
    • B01D53/74—General processes for purification of waste gases; Apparatus or devices specially adapted therefor
    • B01D53/86—Catalytic processes
    • B01D53/8621—Removing nitrogen compounds
    • B01D53/8634—Ammonia
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/06—Combination of fuel cells with means for production of reactants or for treatment of residues
    • H01M8/0662—Treatment of gaseous reactants or gaseous residues, e.g. cleaning
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01D—SEPARATION
    • B01D2255/00—Catalysts
    • B01D2255/10—Noble metals or compounds thereof
    • B01D2255/102—Platinum group metals
    • B01D2255/1021—Platinum
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01D—SEPARATION
    • B01D2257/00—Components to be removed
    • B01D2257/40—Nitrogen compounds
    • B01D2257/406—Ammonia
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
    • B01J23/00—Catalysts comprising metals or metal oxides or hydroxides, not provided for in group B01J21/00
    • B01J23/38—Catalysts comprising metals or metal oxides or hydroxides, not provided for in group B01J21/00 of noble metals
    • B01J23/40—Catalysts comprising metals or metal oxides or hydroxides, not provided for in group B01J21/00 of noble metals of the platinum group metals
    • B01J23/42—Platinum
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/10—Fuel cells with solid electrolytes
    • H01M2008/1095—Fuel cells with polymeric electrolytes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/06—Combination of fuel cells with means for production of reactants or for treatment of residues
    • H01M8/0606—Combination of fuel cells with means for production of reactants or for treatment of residues with means for production of gaseous reactants
    • H01M8/0612—Combination of fuel cells with means for production of reactants or for treatment of residues with means for production of gaseous reactants from carbon-containing material
    • H01M8/0618—Reforming processes, e.g. autothermal, partial oxidation or steam reforming
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M8/08—Fuel cells with aqueous electrolytes
    • H01M8/086—Phosphoric acid fuel cells [PAFC]
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/30—Hydrogen technology
    • Y02E60/50—Fuel cells

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to fuel cells that are suited for usage in transportation vehicles, portable power plants, or as stationary power plants, and the disclosure especially relates to a system for removing ammonia from a fuel stream flowing into a fuel cell.
  • Fuel cells are well known and are commonly used to produce electrical current from hydrogen containing reducing fluid fuel and oxygen containing oxidant reactant streams to power electrical apparatus such as transportation vehicles.
  • fuel is often produced by a reformer and the resulting fuel flows from the reformer through a fuel inlet line into an anode flow field of the fuel cell.
  • an oxygen rich reactant simultaneously flows through a cathode flow field of the fuel cell to produce electricity.
  • known fuels for fuel cells such as reformate fuels from reformers, frequently contain contaminants especially ammonia. The presence of ammonia in the fuel stream is detrimental to the performance of the fuel cell.
  • ammonia is a common byproduct of the reforming process and although the reforming process is designed to minimize formation of ammonia, it is common that low levels of ammonia are present in the reformate fuel.
  • Nitrogen present in a hydrogen rich fuel reacts with hydrogen in common steam reformers, which typically utilize conventional nickel catalysts, to form ammonia in a concentration range of parts per million.
  • the ammonia causes performance degradation of the fuel cell when introduced to either a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (“PEMFC”) or a phosphoric acid fuel cell (“PAFC”) .
  • PEMFC proton exchange membrane fuel cell
  • PAFC phosphoric acid fuel cell
  • the scrubber Prior to using all of the phosphoric acid, the scrubber is regenerated by passing an oxygen containing gas through the scrubber.
  • the effect of the oxygen is to convert the ammonium dyhydrogen phosphate back to phosphoric acid according to the following equation:
  • U.S. Patent 5,792,572 to Foley et al . shows a further effort at minimizing ammonia contamination wherein a scrubber contains phosphoric acid absorbed onto porous carbon pellets.
  • This scrubber of Foley et al. is utilized to both remove ammonia from the fuel stream and also to add acid to the fuel cell in a controlled manner.
  • a scrubber capable of providing acceptable ammonia removal for five to ten years without replacement must be unacceptably large, bulky and excessively costly.
  • ammonia and related contaminant removal systems for fuel cells are known in the art. However, none of these provide for efficiently removing ammonia with minimal costs and minimal maintenance requirements . Most known ammonia contaminant removal systems require large components for processing a high volume of fluids, or require high frequency removal and replacement of expensive, contaminated filters and/or ion beds, etc. [0008] Consequently, there is a need for a ammonia removal system for a fuel stream of a fuel stream that may be operated efficiently for long periods of time without high-frequency maintenance.
  • the disclosure is a regenerable ammonia scrubber system for removing ammonia from a fuel stream for a fuel cell.
  • the system includes a first regenerable scrubber secured in fluid communication with a fuel inlet line that is configured to selectively direct flow of the fuel stream from the first scrubber into the fuel cell.
  • the first regenerable scrubber is also secured in fluid communication with a first oxidant exhaust valve that is configured to permit or prohibit flow of an oxidant out of the first scrubber.
  • the system also includes a second regenerable scrubber secured in fluid communication with the fuel inlet line, and in fluid communication with a second oxidant exhaust valve configured to permit or prohibit flow of the oxidant out of the second scrubber.
  • a fuel distribution valve is secured in fluid communication with a fuel source and with the first and second regenerable scrubbers and is configured to selectively direct flow of the fuel stream from the fuel source to either the first regenerable scrubber or the second regenerable scrubber.
  • An oxidant distribution valve is also secured in fluid communication with an oxidant source and is configured to selectively direct flow of the oxidant from the oxidant source to whichever of the first regenerable scrubber or the second regenerable scrubber that is not receiving the fuel stream.
  • the first and second regenerable scrubbers contain a porous support material, an acid solution absorbed within the support material, wherein the porous support material is compatible with the acid solution, and a noble metal catalyst uniformly dispersed through the porous support material.
  • the noble metal catalyst is preferably platinum, and a preferable concentration of the noble metal catalyst is about 0.1 to about 1.0 weight percent P ⁇ wt%" of the weight of the porous support material.
  • a preferred porous support material includes carbon in the form of cylindrical pellets. Use of pellets minimizes a pressure drop of gaseous fuel passing through the scrubber.
  • a rate of oxidation of the contaminants within the scrubbers is determined by an effective electrochemical potential which is a function of the oxidation of the support material.
  • the potential for oxidation of carbon is about 0.60 volts.
  • the porous support material such as catalyzed carbon having a noble metal such as platinum, the potential is increased to about 0.90 volts, which provides for an oxidation rate that is effectively about two-hundred times greater than an oxidation rate based upon non-catalyzed carbon support material .
  • the present system provides for maintenance of an initial system concentration condition of the noble metal upon the support material through repeated absorption-regeneration cycles, rather than a slow deterioration or loss of the valuable noble metal catalyst.
  • the present system provides for a dramatic increase in a rate of regeneration of the regenerable scrubbers through use of a relatively small amount of expensive noble metal that is maintained in a stable concentration within the regenerable scrubbers . Therefore, the scrubbers may be sized considerably smaller than would be required to achieve the same high proportion of contaminant removal achieved by prior art scrubbers that are much larger and much more costly.
  • the disclosure also includes an embodiment of the system having one of the regenerable scrubbers with the described acid, noble metal catalyzed porous support material, and selective fuel and oxygen feed and exhaust lines .
  • regenerable ammonia scrubber system for a fuel cell that overcomes deficiencies of the prior art.
  • regenerable ammonia scrubber system for a fuel cell that enhances removal of ammonia from a fuel stream for a fuel cell while also reducing costs and sizes of components of the system.
  • Figure 1 is a simplified schematic representation of a regenerable ammonia scrubber system for a fuel cell constructed in accordance with the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 1 a regenerable ammonia scrubber system for a fuel cell is shown in FIG. 1, and is generally designated by the reference numeral 10.
  • the system 10 includes a first regenerable scrubber 12 secured in fluid communication with a fuel inlet line 14 through a first extension 15 of the fuel inlet line 14.
  • the fuel inlet line 14 includes a fuel inlet valve 16 that is configured to selectively direct flow of a fuel stream from the first regenerable scrubber 12 and a first extension 15 of the fuel inlet line 14 to a fuel cell 18.
  • the fuel inlet valve 16 may be selected to permit or restrict flow of the fuel stream from the first regenerable scrubber 12 to the fuel cell 18.
  • the fuel inlet line 14 may include any control means 16 known in the art that can achieve that function.
  • the first regenerable scrubber 12 is also secured in fluid communication with a first oxidant exhaust line 20 that is configured to direct flow of an oxidant out of the first regenerable scrubber 12.
  • the system 10 also includes a second regenerable scrubber 22 that is secured in fluid communication with the fuel inlet line 14 through a second extension 24 of the fuel inlet line 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the second extension 24 of the fuel inlet line 14 is also secured in fluid communication with the fuel inlet valve 16.
  • the fuel inlet valve 16 may be a three- way valve known in the art that may selectively direct the fuel stream from either the first regenerable scrubber 12 or the second regenerable scrubber 22 into the fuel cell 18, or any control means 16 known in art that can achieve this described function.
  • the second regenerable scrubber 22 is also secured in fluid communication with a second oxidant exhaust line 26 that is configured to direct flow of an oxidant out of the second regenerable scrubber 22.
  • a fuel distribution valve 28 is secured in fluid communication with a fuel source 30 and with the first and second regenerable scrubbers 12, 22 through a fuel feed line 32.
  • a first extension 34 of the fuel feed line 32 directs flow of the fuel stream from the fuel distribution valve 28 into the first regenerable scrubber 12.
  • a second extension 36 of the fuel feed line 32 directs flow of fuel from the valve 28 into the second regenerable scrubber 22.
  • the fuel distribution valve 28 is configured to selectively direct flow of the fuel stream from the fuel source 30 into one of the first regenerable scrubber 12 or second regenerable scrubber 22.
  • the fuel distribution valve 28 may also be any fuel distribution control means 28 known in art that is capable of performing the described function, such as two separate fuel distribution valves (not shown) on two separate fuel feed lines (not shown) , etc.
  • An oxidant distribution valve 38 is secured in fluid communication with an oxidant source 40 and is configured to selectively direct flow of an oxidant from the oxidant source 40 to 'the other of the first regenerable scrubber 12 or the second regenerable scrubber 22 through an oxidant feed line 42.
  • a first extension 44 of the oxidant feed line 42 is secured in fluid communication between the oxidant distribution valve 38 and the first regenerable scrubber 12, and a second extension 46 of the oxidant feed line 42 is secured in fluid communication between the valve 38 and the second regenerable scrubber 22.
  • the oxidant distribution valve 38 may be an oxidant distribution control means 38 for selectively directing flow of the oxidant from the oxidant source 40 to whichever of the first regenerable scrubber 12 or the second regenerable scrubber 22 that is not receiving flow of the fuel stream.
  • the above characterization of the fuel distribution valve 28 being configured to selectively direct flow of the fuel stream to "one of the" first regenerable scrubber 12 or second regenerable scrubber 22, and the characterization of the oxidant distribution valve 38 being configured to selectively direct flow of the oxidant to "the other of the" first regenerable scrubber 12 or second regenerable scrubber 22, it is meant that if the fuel distribution valve 28 is configured to direct flow of the fuel stream through the first regenerable scrubber 12, then, responsive to that setting of the fuel distribution valve 28, the oxidant distribution valve 38 would be configured to direct flow of the oxidant through the second regenerable scrubber 22. Similarly, whenever the fuel distribution valve 28 directs flow of the fuel through the second regenerable scrubber 22, then, responsive to that setting of the fuel distribution valve 28, the oxidant distribution valve 38 would be configured to direct flow of the oxidant through the first regenerable scrubber 12.
  • the scrubber receiving the oxidant is referred to as being in a regeneration portion of an absorption-regeneration cycle.
  • a scrubber 12, 22, is receiving the fuel stream, it is referred to as being in an absorption portion of the absorption-regeneration cycle.
  • the distribution valves 28, 38 are configured as described above, a regeneration portion of the absorption-regeneration cycle does not have to be the same duration as the absorption portion of the cycle. In other words, satisfactory regeneration of a scrubber 12, 22, may occur long before the scrubber 12, 22, in the absorption portion of the cycle needs to be regenerated. In such circumstances, the oxidant distribution valve 38 or oxidant distribution control means 38 would be configured to terminate flow of the oxidant to the scrubber 12, 22, in the regeneration portion of the cycle.
  • the first oxidant exhaust line 20 also includes a first oxidant exhaust valve 48 for selectively permitting or prohibiting flow through the first oxidant exhaust line 20.
  • the second oxidant exhaust line 26 similarly includes a second oxidant exhaust valve 50 for selectively permitting or prohibiting flow through the second oxidant exhaust line 26.
  • the first and second oxidant exhaust line 20, 26, may simply vent oxidant out of the system 10 down stream from the valves 48, 50, or, as shown in FIG. 1, the lines 20, 26, may direct flow to exhaust through a fuel cell exhaust line 52 down stream from a fuel cell exhaust valve 54.
  • the first and second oxidant exhaust valves 48, 50 may be secured in direct fluid communication with the first and second regenerable scrubbers 12, 22 to selectively exhaust the oxidant directly out of the scrubbers 12, 22.
  • the system 10 may also include a controller means 56 for controlling the fuel inlet valve 16, the fuel distribution valve 28, the oxidant distribution valve 38, the first oxidant exhaust valve 48, and the second oxidant exhaust valve 50, to perform the functions described herein.
  • the controller means 56 may be any controller known in the art capable of performing the functions described herein such as a computer, a electro-mechanical controls, a human operator (not shown) manually operating the valves, etc.
  • the controller means 56 may also receive sensed information signals from the valves 16, 28, 38, 48, 50 and/or transmits control signals through communication lines 58 shown as hatched lines in FIG. 1.
  • the first regenerable scrubber 12 and the second regenerable scrubber 22 contain an acid solution 60 and a porous support material 62, wherein the acid solution 60 is absorbed within the porous support material 62.
  • the porous support material 62 is selected to be compatible with the acid solution 60. By the phrase "compatible with”, it is meant that the porous support material 62 is not corroded by or otherwise degraded by the particular acid contained within the scrubbers 12, 22.
  • a preferred acid is phosphoric acid.
  • a noble metal catalyst is uniformly dispersed through the porous support material 62.
  • the porous support material 62 may be any porous material known in the art capable of supporting the selected noble metal.
  • a preferred porous support material 62 includes carbon in the form of cylindrical pellets 62.
  • the support material 62 may be a carbon or activated carbon material, preferably in the form of a porous pellet.
  • porous carbon pellets are available from the CALGON CARBON CORPORATION, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., under the brand name "WSC470 Pellet Activated Carbon". Carbon pellets that have a 3-4 millimeter diameter are preferred.
  • the noble metal catalyst is preferably platinum, and a preferable concentration of the noble metal catalyst is about 0.1 to about 1.0 weight percent
  • the noble metal catalyst platinum may be deposited by techniques known in the art. For example, 99 grams of carbon pellets are made into a slurry with a solution of 50% deionized water and 50% isopropanol. An aqueous solution of chloroplatinic acid containing one gram of platinum is added to the slurry with constant stirring. The slurry is heated to 90 0 C with continuous stirring to evaporate the water and isopropanol and to deposit the chloroplatinic acid within the carbon pellets . Hydrogen gas is flowed over the dried pellets at 90 0 C to reduce the chloroplatinic acid to platinum and to remove the chloride as hydrochloric acid. This results in a catalyzed pellet containing 1 weight percent platinum.
  • the potential for oxidation of carbon is about 0.60 volts for a form of carbon particles such as utilized in the aforesaid Patent to Katz et al.
  • the electrochemical potential of the carbon support material 62 is increased to about 0.90 volts. That increase provides an oxidation rate that is effectively about two-hundred times greater than an oxidation rate based upon non-catalyzed porous carbon support material. (For purposes herein, the word "about” means plus or minus ten percent.)
  • the present system 10 provides for maintenance of an initial system concentration condition of the noble metal upon the support material 62 through repeated absorption- regeneration cycles, instead of the system 10 experiencing a slow deterioration or loss of the valuable noble metal catalyst.
  • the first regenerable scrubber 12 may be first controlled to be in the absorption portion of the absorption-regeneration cycle and to thereby supply a de-contaminated fuel stream to the fuel cell through closing the first oxidant exhaust valve 48, directing flow of the fuel stream from the fuel source 32 through the fuel feed line 32, first regenerable scrubber 12, fuel inlet line 14 into the fuel cell 18.
  • the fuel distribution valve 32 is controlled to prohibit flow of the fuel stream into the second regenerable scrubber 22, while the oxidant distribution valve 38 is controlled to direct flow of the oxidant from the oxidant source 40 (which may also be from the fuel cell exhaust 52, or a cathode exhaust (not shown) or power plant exhaust (not shown) of the fuel cell 18, or ambient air, or pure oxygen, etc.) into the second regenerable scrubber 22, while the second oxidant exhaust valve 50 is controlled to be open to discharge the oxidant out of the second regenerable scrubber 22.
  • the oxidant source 40 which may also be from the fuel cell exhaust 52, or a cathode exhaust (not shown) or power plant exhaust (not shown) of the fuel cell 18, or ambient air, or pure oxygen, etc.
  • the system 10 is controlled to place the first regenerable scrubber 12 in the regeneration portion of the cycle by terminating flow of the fuel stream into the scrubber 12, and instead directing flow of the oxidant through the first regenerable scrubber 12. That may be achieved by controlling the fuel distribution valve 28 to terminate flow of fuel to the scrubber 12, while controlling the oxidant distribution valve 38 to direct the oxidant to pass through the first regenerable scrubber 12, while also opening the first oxidant exhaust valve 48 and terminating flow from the scrubber 12 into the fuel cell 18 through the fuel inlet line 14.
  • the fuel stream is directed by the fuel distribution means 28 to flow into and through the second regenerable scrubber 22 and fuel inlet line 14 into the fuel cell, while the second oxidant exhaust valve 50 is closed, and the oxidant distribution control means 38 is controlled to terminate flow of the oxidant into the second regenerable scrubber 22.
  • the oxidant distribution valve 38 is controlled to terminate flow of the oxidant to the scrubber 12, 22 in the regeneration portion of the cycle and the oxidant exhaust valve 48, 50 of that scrubber is closed.
  • the regeneration portion of the cycle is shorter than the absorption portion of the cycle, fuel should be admitted to the regenerated scrubber 12, 22 upon completion of the oxidation to minimize degradation of the catalyst.
  • the temperature of the regenerable scrubber 12, 22 must be above a dew point of the fuel to prevent water accumulation within the scrubber 12, 22.
  • the dew point of a reformate fuel stream is typically about 60 degrees Celsius (" 0 C") to about 70 0 C.
  • the temperature of the regenerable scrubber 12, 22 must also be less than an exhaust temperature of a fuel cell reactants being exhausted from the fuel cell 18 in order to prevent acid accumulation within the fuel cell.
  • the temperature of the exhaust stream from the fuel cell 18 is typically between 140 0 C to 170°C.
  • an optimum temperature range of operation of the regenerable scrubbers during the absorption portion of the absorption-regeneration cycle is between about 80 0 C and 12O 0 C.
  • An embodiment of the system 10 includes one of the regenerable scrubbers 12 with the described acid 60, noble metal catalyzed porous support material 62, the fuel distribution control means 28 and oxygen distribution control means 38 so that the regenerable scrubber 12 may be operated in the absorption- regeneration cycle.
  • Such a use of only one regenerable scrubber may 12 may be appropriate in circumstances wherein the scrubber 12 is used for a fuel cell 18 that is used intermittently and has predetermined periods of inactivity. During such periods of inactivity, the regenerable scrubber 12 may be controlled to be in the regeneration portion of the absorption-regeneration cycle in the manner described above. When the fuel cell 18 is to be operated again, the regenerable scrubber 12 would then be controlled to be in the absorption portion of the cycle .
  • the present regenerable ammonia scrubber system 10 provides for a dramatic increase in a rate of regeneration of the regenerable scrubbers 12, 22 through use of a relatively small amount of expensive noble metal that is maintained in a stable concentration within the regenerable scrubbers 12, 22. Consequently, the scrubbers 12, 22 may be sized considerably smaller than would be required to achieve the same high proportion of contaminant removal achieved by known scrubbers.
  • regenerable ammonia scrubber system While the present disclosure has been disclosed with respect to the described and illustrated regenerable ammonia scrubber system 10, it is to be understood the disclosure is not to be limited to those alternatives and described embodiments.
  • control of the system 10 has been described as effected through changing the fuel and oxidant distribution valves 28, 38, oxidant exhaust valves 48, 50 and fuel inlet valve 16, it is to be understood that the system may be controlled to achieve the same operational functions through application of different control means for directing flow of the fuel stream and oxidant through the system as described above.
  • the system 10 may be utilized with any fuel cells including phosphoric acid fuel cells, proton exchange membrane fuel cells, etc. Accordingly, reference should be made primarily to the following claims rather than the forgoing description to determine the scope of the disclosure .

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  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
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Abstract

L'invention concerne un système épurateur à l'ammoniac régénérable (10) conçu pour enlever l'ammoniac d'un courant de combustible pour une pile à combustible (18), qui comporte un premier épurateur régénérable (12) et un second épurateur régénérable (22). Chaque épurateur (12, 22) est fixé en communication fluidique avec une vanne de distribution de combustible (28) conçue pour diriger sélectivement le courant de combustible vers l'un ou l'autre des premier (12) ou second (22) épurateur. Il est également fixé en communication fluidique avec une vanne de distribution d'oxydant (38) conçue pour diriger sélectivement le flux d'oxydant vers l'autre du premier ou du second épurateur (12, 22). Les premier et second épurateurs régénérables (12, 22) contiennent une solution acide (60), un matériau support poreux (62) dans la solution acide (60), et un catalyseur en métal noble uniformément dispersé dans le matériau support poreux (62). Le catalyseur en métal noble est, de préférence, du platine.
PCT/US2006/046184 2006-12-04 2006-12-04 Système épurateur à l'ammoniac régénérable pour pile à combustible WO2008069778A1 (fr)

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/US2006/046184 WO2008069778A1 (fr) 2006-12-04 2006-12-04 Système épurateur à l'ammoniac régénérable pour pile à combustible

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Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3275567A (en) * 1963-06-27 1966-09-27 Engelhard Ind Inc Method of preparing a sulfided platinum on carbon catalyst
US3576767A (en) * 1968-04-11 1971-04-27 Monsanto Co Carbon catalyst composition
US3976507A (en) * 1975-02-12 1976-08-24 United Technologies Corporation Pressurized fuel cell power plant with single reactant gas stream
US4259302A (en) * 1978-12-11 1981-03-31 United Technologies Corporation Regenerable ammonia scrubber
US4366093A (en) * 1980-04-07 1982-12-28 Kanegafuchi Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Cylindrical molded catalyst
US4379036A (en) * 1981-08-07 1983-04-05 United Technologies Corporation Continuous electrochemical ammonia scrubber
US6376114B1 (en) * 2000-05-30 2002-04-23 Utc Fuel Cells, Llc Reformate fuel treatment system for a fuel cell power plant

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3275567A (en) * 1963-06-27 1966-09-27 Engelhard Ind Inc Method of preparing a sulfided platinum on carbon catalyst
US3576767A (en) * 1968-04-11 1971-04-27 Monsanto Co Carbon catalyst composition
US3976507A (en) * 1975-02-12 1976-08-24 United Technologies Corporation Pressurized fuel cell power plant with single reactant gas stream
US4259302A (en) * 1978-12-11 1981-03-31 United Technologies Corporation Regenerable ammonia scrubber
US4366093A (en) * 1980-04-07 1982-12-28 Kanegafuchi Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Cylindrical molded catalyst
US4366093B1 (fr) * 1980-04-07 1986-12-16
US4379036A (en) * 1981-08-07 1983-04-05 United Technologies Corporation Continuous electrochemical ammonia scrubber
US6376114B1 (en) * 2000-05-30 2002-04-23 Utc Fuel Cells, Llc Reformate fuel treatment system for a fuel cell power plant

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