The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 29, 2005
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2002
Jader Matos Da Silva, Mainz, DE;
Ingo Hermann, Mainz, DE;
Jader Matos da Silva, Mainz, DE;
Ingo Hermann, Mainz, DE;
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
A fuel processing sub-system is provided and includes a cold-flame vaporizer in fluid communication with an auto-thermal reformer. The cold-flame vaporizer operates within a temperature range of approximately 310° C. to 500° C. for enabling a cold-flame reaction, whereby partial oxidization of a volume of fuel occurs for producing heat. The produced heat is used to vaporize the remaining volume of fuel and superheat a volume of saturated steam supplied to the cold-flame vaporizer. The vaporized fuel, water (steam) and a supply of air are efficiently mixed within the cold-flame vaporizer for supply to the auto-thermal reformer at a temperature below 500° C. In order to ensure the cold-flame reaction, the cold-flame vaporizer is operated with an O/C ratio of 0.5 to 2.3, an S/C ratio of 1.5 to 3.0 and a pressure of 1.5 to 3.0 bar-g. In this manner, turndown ratios are achievable for applications having transient power demands.