Utc Fuel Cells, LLC

Utc Power Corporation

Clearedge Power Corporation

Carl Rohrbach, Jr

Paul R Margiott

Michael E Gorman

Richard D Breault

A method for operating a fuel cell power plant to provide end-use electricity, end-use heat and end-use reformate includes the steps of providing a fuel cell power plant that consumes reformate to provide electricity and heat, said fuel cell power plant having a nominal reformate flow rate and including a fuel processor system for generating reformate from a hydrocarbon fuel; operating the fuel processor system so as to provide a reformate flow at a rate greater than the nominal reformate flow rate; operating the fuel cell power plant using a first portion of the reformate flow to generate the electricity and the heat, the first portion being less than or equal to the nominal reformate flow rate; and providing a second portion of the reformate flow as the end-use reformate.

Fuel cell power plant used as reformate generator

A fuel cell assembly () has an extended operational life, in part, because of unique startup and shutdown procedures used for operating the fuel cell assembly. In disclosed examples, a purge gas mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen includes less than 2% hydrogen for selectively purging portions of the assembly during a startup or shutdown procedure. In a disclosed example, the hydrogen-nitrogen mixture contains less than 0.1% hydrogen.

Growing community of inventors

Somers, CT, United States of America

Carl Rohrbach, Jr