Research Triangle Institute

John Reeves Carpenter, Iii

Apoorv Agarwal

David Douglas Barbee

Raghubir Prasad Gupta

Brian Scott Turk

Shaojun James Zhou

An internal combustion engine is operated at fuel-rich conditions by adjusting one or more operating parameters such as, for example, a throttle, an ignition timing, a load coupled to the engine, a fuel pressure, power to a supercharger, and power to a preheater to maintain a specified engine speed and a temperature of an exhaust gas. Operating the engine under these conditions allows the engine to function as a reformer producing a synthesis gas comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Internal combustion engine as a chemical reactor to produce synthesis gas from hydrocarbon feeds

Synthesis gas containing nitrogen as the majority component is processed to increase the hydrogen to carbon dioxide ratio. Nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and other contaminants are subsequently removed by a purification unit to produce a purified hydrogen gas stream. A recycle stream within the purification unit helps achieve a hydrogen purity greater than 99.9 percent, and hydrogen recovery greater than 99 percent.

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Research Triangle Park, NC, United States of America

John Reeves Carpenter, Iii