Doosan Fuel Cell America, Inc.

Utc Fuel Cells, LLC

United Technologies Corporation

International Fuel Cells, LLC

Utc Power Corporation

International Fuel Cells Co, LLC

Doosan Fuel Cell Amreica, Inc.

Derek W Hildreth

John L Preston

Roger R Lesieur

Thomas J Corrigan

Paul R Hanrahan

Antonio M Vincitore

Joshua David Isom

Peter F Foley

Leslie L VanDine

Carl Anthony Reiser

Albert P Grasso

Douglas J Wheeler

Stephen G Pixton

Leonard J Bonville

Leonard J Bonville, Jr

Michael T Lines

Francis Kocum

Richard J Assarabowski

James Davies

Lynn Hamilton

Maria G Lukianoff

Lynn Reni

An illustrative example system includes at least one fuel cell that is configured to generate electricity based on an electrochemical reaction. The fuel cell includes an exhaust. A heat pump includes an evaporator, a condenser, a compressor, and an expansion valve. A coolant loop is external to the at least one fuel cell. The coolant loop has a first portion associated with the exhaust such that heat from the exhaust increases a temperature of coolant fluid in the first portion. The coolant loop has a second portion downstream of the first portion. The second portion of the coolant loop is associated with the evaporator such that heat from the coolant fluid in the second portion increases the temperature of the evaporator.

Integrated heat pump and fuel cell power plant

An example method of decontaminating a fuel reactant stream for a fuel cell flows the fuel reactant stream through a fluidized ammonia dissolving media, while simultaneously flowing water through the fluidized ammonia dissolving media to separate contaminants from the fuel reactant stream into a separated contaminant and water stream. The separated contaminant and water stream from the fluidized bed is accumulated within an accumulator, circulated through a water-control loop, and decontaminated by flowing the stream through an ion exchange bed secured in fluid communication with the water-control loop. A decontaminated water stream from the ion exchange bed is circulated back through the ammonia dissolving media. A temperature of the fuel reactant stream is controlled upstream of the fuel reactant stream entering the separator scrubber to produce a predetermined temperature of the fuel reactant stream passing through the separator scrubber.

Method of decontaminating a fuel reactant stream for a fuel cell

A reformer system () having a hydrodesulfurizer () provides desulfurized natural gas feedstock to a catalytic steam reformer (), the outflow of which is treated by a water gas shift reactor () and optionally a preferential CO oxidizer () to provide reformate gas () having high hydrogen and moderate carbon dioxide content. To avoid damage to the hydrodesulfurizer from overheating, any deleterious hydrogen reactants, such as the oxygen in peak shave gas or olefins, in the non-desulfurized natural gas feedstock () are reacted () with hydrogen () to convert them to alkanes (e.g., ethylene and propylene to ethane and propane) and to convert oxygen to water in a catalytic reactor () having no sulfide sorbent, and cooled (), below a temperature which would damage the reactor, by evaporative cooling with pressurized hot water (). Hydrogen for the desulfurizer and the hydrogen reactions may be provided as recycle reformate () or from a mini-CPO (), or from other sources.

Fuel processing of feedstocks having components harmful to hydrodesulfurization

A fluidized contaminant separator and water-control loop () decontaminates a fuel reactant stream of a fuel cell (). Water passes over surfaces of an ammonia dissolving media () within a fluidized bed () while the fuel reactant stream simultaneously passes over the surfaces to dissolve contaminants from the fuel reactant stream into a separated contaminant and water stream. A fuel-control heat exchanger () upstream from the scrubber () removes heat from the fuel stream. A water-control loop () directs flow of the separated contaminants and water stream from an accumulator () through an ion exchange bed () which removes contaminants from the stream. Decontaminated water is directed back into the scrubber () to flow through the fluidized bed (). Separating contaminants from the fuel reactant stream and then isolating and concentrating the separated contaminants within the ion exchange material () minimizes costs and maintenance requirements.

Fluidized bed contaminant separator and water-control loop for a fuel reactant stream of a fuel cell

A sodium chloride electrolysis cell () receives a portion of its electrical power () from a phosphoric acid fuel cell () which receives fuel at its anode inlet () from a water cooled catalytic reactor () that converts oxygen in the byproduct output () of the sodium chlorate electrolysis cell to hydrogen and water. A utility grid () may provide through a converter () power to support the electrochemical process in the sodium chlorate electrolysis cell. Temperature of the water cooled catalytic reactor is determined by the vaporization of pressurized hot water, the pressure of which may be adjusted by a controller () and a valve () in response to temperature ().

Apparatus including sodium chlorate electrolysis cell connected by water cooled catalytic reactor to phosphoric acid fuel cell

An integrated contaminant separator and water-control loop () decontaminates a fuel reactant stream of a fuel cell (). Water passes over surfaces of an ammonia dissolving means () within a separator scrubber () while the fuel reactant stream simultaneously passes over the surfaces to dissolve contaminants from the fuel reactant stream into the water. An accumulator () collects the separated contaminant stream, and ion exchange material () integrated within the accumulator removes contaminants from the stream. A water-control pump () directs flow of a de-contaminated water stream from the accumulator () through a water-control loop () having a heat exchanger () and back onto the scrubber () to flow over the packed bed (). Separating contaminants from the fuel reactant stream and then isolating and concentrating the separated contaminants within the ion exchange material () minimizes cost and maintenance requirements.

Integrated contaminant separator and water-control loop for a fuel reactant stream

A separator scrubber () and isolation loop () decontaminates a fuel reactant stream of a fuel cell (). Water passes over surfaces of an ammonia dissolving means () within the scrubber () while the fuel reactant stream simultaneously passes over the surfaces to remove contaminants from the fuel reactant into the water. An accumulator () collects the separated contaminants and water, and an isolation loop pump () directs flow of the separated contaminant stream through the isolation loop (). A heat exchanger () and an ion exchange bed () modify the heat of, and remove contaminants from, the separated contaminant stream, and the isolation loop () directs the decontaminated stream back onto the packed bed ()-. Separating contaminants from the fuel reactant stream and then isolating and concentrating the separated contaminants within the ion exchange bed () minimizes cost and maintenance requirements.

Contaminant separator and isolation loop for a fuel reactant stream for a fuel cell

An integrated fuel cell stack assembly ( ) and selective oxidizer bed assembly ( ) is provided. The fuel cell stack assembly ( ) also includes a number of fuel cells. A fuel inlet manifold ( ) and fuel inlet plenum to cell stack ( ) manifold are arranged in fluid communication with the fuel stack assembly ( ) for supplying to and exhausting from, respectively, the fuel supply in the fuel cells in the fuel stack assembly ( ). The bed resides in said fuel inlet manifold. The bed includes a selective oxidation catalyst with a heat exchange fluid conduit routed therethrough. Oxygen-containing gas is supplied into the bed via the input plenum. The temperature of the internal selective oxidizer bed is controlled by the fluid conduit in the bed to reduce carbon monoxide in the fuel.

Selective oxidizer in cell stack manifold

A process gas selective oxidizer assemblage for use in a fuel cell power plant includes one or more catalyzed selective oxidizer process gas flow fields and one or more adjacent non-catalyzed heat exchanger process gas flow fields. The catalyzed selective oxidizer process gas flow fields may be formed with catalyzed pellets or with a monolithic catalyzed open cell foam component. The heat exchanger process gas flow fields are formed by non-catalyzed monolithic open cell foam components which have coolant fluid passages disposed therein. Planar metal sheets form a common wall between the selective oxidizer process gas flow fields and the heat exchanger process gas flow fields. The use of the open cell foam to form the heat exchanger process gas flow fields provides enhanced heat transfer between the reformate gas and the coolant fluid. The use of the foam components in both the heat exchange process gas flow fields and the selective oxidizer process gas flow fields enables the construction of a more compact and lighter weight selective oxidizer assemblage. The repeating components are placed side-by-side in the assemblage, so that one of the catalyzed process gas flow fields operates at a higher temperature than subsequent catalyzed process gas flow fields. The process gas enters the higher temperature catalyzed flow field after it is admixed with air that is injected into the system just prior to the higher temperature flow field. The process gas-air mixture flows through the first higher temperature catalyzed process gas flow field; thence through a non-catalyzed heat exchanger process gas flow field; thence through a lower temperature catalyzed process gas flow field; thence through another heat exchanger process gas flow field; and so on, until the selectively oxidized process gas exits the assemblage.

Compact selective oxidizer assemblage for a fuel cell power plant

A fuel gas catalyst bed for use in a fuel cell power plant is formed from a monolithic open cell foam component, the open cell lattice of which forms gas passages through the catalyst bed. The monolithic component has a lattice of internal open cells which are both laterally and longitudinally interconnected so as to produce a diffuse gas flow pattern through the catalyst bed. All areas of the monolithic component which form the gas flow pattern are provided with an underlying high porosity wash coat layer. The porous surface of the wash coat layer is provided with a nickel catalyst layer, or a noble metal catalyst layer, such as platinum, rhodium, palladium, or the like, over which the gas stream being treated flows. The base foam lattice can be a metal such as aluminum, stainless steel, a steel-aluminum alloy, a nickel alloy, a ceramic, or the like material which can be wash coated. The use of an open cell lattice as the basis of a catalyst bed enables the formation of very compact, light weight and high surface area catalyst bed with excellent gas flow-through characteristics.

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Manchester, CT, United States of America

Derek W Hildreth