Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

Westport Power Inc.

Questair Technologies Inc.

Christopher Gordon Stoner

Christopher R McLean

Daryl Musselman

Bowie Gordon Keefer

Andre Boulet

Xuantian Li

Jacobus Neels

Erik Paul Johannes

William Allison Logan

Paul Sebright Towgood

Kevin A Kaupert

Les Jeziorowski

Marie-Claude Taponat

In situations where the demand for syngas is intermittent, a fuel processor is operated to provide a high absolute hydrogen and carbon monoxide production, rather than to give a high fuel-specific hydrogen and carbon monoxide production. When a syngas generator is operated to intermittently produce syngas, a heating process can be performed between periods of syngas demand in order to keep the fuel processor within a desired temperature range. The heating process can comprise various steps or events including performing a heating event, allowing a standby period, and/or performing a carbon conversion event. Carbon formed during the process of converting fuel to syngas can be advantageously converted to maintain the temperature of the fuel processor within a desired range in between periods of syngas demand. A predictive method can be employed to control at least a portion of the heating process.

Method of operating a fuel processor intermittently

A gas separation device is disclosed. In particular, seal assemblies and adsorbent element constructions for a gas separation device such as a pressure swing adsorption device are disclosed. The seal assembly can be part of a rotary valve and can include a seal backer and a floating seal positioned within a bore in the seal backer. The floating seal is configured to press towards and seal against an adjacent rotor. Valve action is provided as apertures in the floating seal and rotor are brought into and then out of alignment as a result of relative rotation therebetween. The seal assembly can include two types of gas chambers to apply balanced sealing pressures over the sealing surface of the valve, one type configured to receive pressurized process gas from within the device and the other configured to receive gas from an independently controlled pressurized gas source. The adsorber elements in the device may comprise improved spacer cross support structures at the ends of wound laminate adsorbent structures.

Gas separation device

A rotary module for implementing a high frequency pressure swing adsorption process includes a stator having a number of function compartments opening into the stator valve faces, a rotor rotatably coupled to the stator and including a number of apertures opening into the rotor valve faces, and a self-regulating clearance-type valve seal positioned between the valve faces of the stator and rotor so as to regulate the rate of gas flow between the stator and the rotor. Each valve seal includes a sealing face disposed adjacent a respective one of the rotor valve faces and is pivotable relative to the respective rotor valve face for varying the gas flow rate in accordance with the clearance distance between the sealing face and the respective rotor valve face. Each valve seal also includes a passage which communicates with one of the function compartments for varying the clearance distance in response to a pressure differential between the passage and an approaching aperture. In this way, the valve seal maintains a smooth pressure transition profile as the flow paths are switched between the function compartments. As a result, equilibrium is maintained between the adsorbent material and the mass transfer front of the gas, and the efficiency of the gas separation process is enhanced.

Modular pressure swing adsorption apparatus with clearance-type valve seals

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Vancouver, Canada

Christopher Gordon Stoner