Hydrogen Separation from a Logistic-Fuel Reformate Stream Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Topic No.: N05-040 Topic Title: Hydrogen Separation from a Logistic-Fuel Reformate Stream Proposal No.: N051-040-0435 Firm: Analytic Power LLC 2-X Gill Street Woburn, Massachusetts 01801 Contact: Valerie Bloomfield Phone: (781) 935-1333 Web Site: www.analytic-power.com Abstract: Despite fifteen years of R&D, PEM fuel cell power plants have not been successfully deployed on naval vessels. The principal cause is the fuel processor, which must operate on diesel fuel with up to 1wt% sulfur, but provide pure hydrogen to a PEM fuel cell that is intolerant of impurities. The fuel processors must be small, efficient and inexpensive. These have been the Navy goals for as long as they have sponsored fuel cell development. Analytic's Clean Gas Reformer meets these requirements. The program objective is to build a reformer as insensitive to sulfur as the power plants currently used on ships. The internal hydrogen separation element is optimized by building on the work completed in previous SBIR and commercially funded reformer programs. while taking advantage of new technological advances. Hydrogen separation by a glass membrane will be measured and characterized. Finally, the ATR catalyst performance and stability on NATO F76 fuel will be proved. The program culminates with the preliminary design of the fuel processor to be built under Phase II. Benefits: If the project is successful, the efficiency of hydrocarbon reforming power plants is improved and the cost reduced. In particular, the parasite power is reduced and selective oxidizers, which can consume from 2-3% of the hydrogen generated by a fuel processor, are eliminated. The cost of the fuel processor is further reduced by eliminating many reactors, heat exchangers, and controls. The CGR represents an inexpensive solution to the problem of PEM fuel cell damage due to traces of sulfur, CO, and ammonia in the anode. It is applicable to both commercial and military PEM power plants for engine generator sets and higher power shipboard distributed generators. Commercially, a major application is residential power generators which are not yet feasible due to high costs and system complexity. Return