A Compact, Self-Sustaining Fuel Cell Auxiliary Power Unit Operated on Diesel Fuel

Remzi Can Samsun, Matthias Prawitz, Andreas Tschauder, Stefan Weiske, Joachim Pasel and Ralf Peters
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Remzi Can Samsun: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), 52425 Jülich, Germany
Matthias Prawitz: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), 52425 Jülich, Germany
Andreas Tschauder: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), 52425 Jülich, Germany
Stefan Weiske: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), 52425 Jülich, Germany
Joachim Pasel: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), 52425 Jülich, Germany
Ralf Peters: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering (IEK-14), 52425 Jülich, Germany

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-28

Abstract: A complete fuel cell-based auxiliary power unit in the 7.5 kW e power class utilizing diesel fuel was developed in accordance with the power density and start-up targets defined by the U.S. Department of Energy. The system includes a highly-integrated fuel processor with multifunctional reactors to facilitate autothermal reforming, the water-gas shift reaction, and catalytic combustion. It was designed with the help of process analyses, on the basis of which two commercial, high-temperature PEFC stacks and balance of plant components were selected. The complete system was packaged, which resulted in a volume of 187.5 l. After achieving a stable and reproducible stack performance based on a modified break-in procedure, a maximum power of 3.3 kW e was demonstrated in a single stack. Despite the strong deviation from design points resulting from a malfunctioning stack, all system functions could be validated. By scaling-up the performance of the functioning stack to the level of two stacks, a power density of 35 W e l ?1 could be estimated, which is close to the 40 W e l ?1 target. Furthermore, the start-up time could be reduced to less than 22 min, which exceeds the 30 min target. These results may bring diesel-based fuel cell auxiliary power units a step closer to use in real applications, which is supported by the demonstrated indicators.

Keywords: autothermal reforming; auxiliary power unit; catalytic burner; diesel reforming; fuel cell system; HT-PEFC system; NEXBTL diesel; water-gas shift (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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