Hydrogen and carbon monoxide generation using an REP with partial oxidation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10465305-B2
Application number	US-201815980356-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2018
Priority date	Nov 17, 2015
Publication date	Nov 5, 2019
Grant date	Nov 5, 2019

Abstract

A system for producing at least one of hydrogen or carbon monoxide includes at least one fuel cell, including an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte matrix. The at least one fuel cell further includes a power supply for applying a reverse voltage to the at least one fuel cell to operate the fuel cell in reverse as an electrolyzer. The anode is configured to receive a partially-reformed fuel and output a gas comprising hydrogen. The cathode is configured to output a gas comprising carbon dioxide and oxygen. The system further includes at least one oxidizer configured to receive the carbon dioxide and oxygen from the cathode and fuel from a fuel supply, the at least one oxidizer configured to output a partially-oxidized fuel comprising carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen.

First claim

What is being claimed is:

1. A system for producing at least one of hydrogen or carbon monoxide, comprising:
at least one fuel cell comprising:
an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte matrix; and
a power supply for applying a reverse voltage to the at least one fuel cell to operate the fuel cell in reverse as an electrolyzer;
wherein the anode is configured to receive a partially-reformed fuel and output a gas comprising hydrogen;
wherein the cathode is configured to output a gas comprising carbon dioxide and oxygen; and

at least one oxidizer configured to receive the carbon dioxide and oxygen from the cathode and fuel from a fuel supply, the at least one oxidizer configured to output a partially-oxidized fuel comprising carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen.

2. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a heat source configured to generate heat and exhaust.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the heat source is a fired heater.

4. The system according to claim 2 , further comprising a reformer configured to receive fuel from the fuel supply and at least one of steam or water.

5. The system according to claim 4 , wherein the reformer is configured to transfer heat from the heat source to the fuel and to the at least one of steam or water; and
wherein the reformer is configured to at least partially reform the fuel and at least one of steam or water.

6. The system according to claim 4 , further comprising a pre-heater configured to pre-heat the fuel before the fuel is received in the reformer.

7. The system according to claim 6 , wherein the pre-heater is configured to pre-heat the fuel using waste heat.

8. The system according to claim 2 , further comprising an air supply heat exchanger configured to transfer heat generated by the heat source to air received by the heat source.

9. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the heat source is configured to vent exhaust out of the system.

10. A system for producing at least one of hydrogen or carbon monoxide, comprising:
at least one fuel cell comprising:
an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte matrix;
a power supply for applying a reverse voltage to the at least one fuel cell to operate the fuel cell in reverse as an electrolyzer; and
a reforming cell configured to receive fuel from a fuel supply and at least one of steam or water, the reforming cell configured to output a partially-reformed fuel;

wherein the reforming cell is configured to feed the partially-reformed fuel to the anode and the cathode;
wherein the anode is configured to receive the partially-reformed fuel and output a gas comprising hydrogen;
wherein the cathode is configured to receive and at least partially oxidize at least one of the fuel from the fuel supply or the partially-reformed fuel; and
wherein the cathode is configured to output carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the cathode further comprises a catalyst configured to partially oxidize the partially-reformed fuel.

12. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the cathode is configured to output primarily carbon monoxide.

13. The system according to claim 10 , further comprising a heat source configured to generate heat and exhaust.

14. The system according to claim 13 , further comprising a first heat exchanger configured to transfer heat from the heat source to fuel from the fuel supply and at least one of steam or water.

15. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the heat source is a fired heater.

16. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the heat source is configured to vent exhaust out of the system.

17. The system according to claim 10 , further comprising a pre-reformer configured to receive fuel from the fuel supply and at least one of steam or water.

18. The system according to claim 10 , further comprising a pre-heater configured to pre-heat the fuel before the fuel is received in the reforming cell.

19. The system according to claim 18 , wherein the pre-heater is configured to pre-heat the fuel using waste heat.

20. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the fuel from the fuel supply is methane.

21. A system for producing hydrogen, comprising:
at least one fuel cell comprising:
an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte matrix; and
a power supply for applying a reverse voltage to the at least one fuel cell to operate the fuel cell in reverse as an electrolyzer;

an oxidizer configured to receive fuel from a fuel supply and at least one of steam or water, the oxidizer configured to output a partially-reformed fuel;
wherein the anode is configured to receive the partially-reformed fuel from the oxidizer and to output hydrogen; and
wherein the cathode is configured to output carbon dioxide and oxygen to the oxidizer.

22. The system according to claim 21 , further comprising a heater configured to heat the fuel and at least one of steam or water.

23. The system according to claim 22 , wherein the heater is configured to receive a portion of the partially-reformed fuel output by the oxidizer.

24. The system according to claim 23 , wherein the heater is configured to combust the partially-reformed fuel to generate heat.

25. The system according to claim 24 , wherein the heater is configured to vent exhaust out of the system.

26. The system according to claim 21 , wherein the fuel is diesel fuel or JP8.

27. The system according to claim 22 , further comprising a pre-heater configured to pre-heat the fuel and the at least one of steam or water before the fuel and the at least one of steam or water are received in the heater.

28. The system according to claim 27 , wherein the pre-heater is configured to pre-heat the fuel using waste heat.

Assignees

• Fuelcell Energy Inc

Inventors

• Jahnke Fred C
• Lambrech Matthew

Classifications

• C25B1/02

  Hydrogen or oxygen · CPC title

• C25B1/00

  Electrolytic production of inorganic compounds or non-metals · CPC title

• Y02P20/129

  Energy recovery, e.g. by cogeneration, H2recovery or pressure recovery turbines · CPC title

• H01M8/0656

  by electrochemical means (H01M8/065 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C25B15/02

  Process control or regulation · CPC title