THE REVOLUTION THROUGH EVOLUTION: DELPHI SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL FOR APU AND HYDROGEN REFORMATION

摘要

For people working on Powertrain technologies and energy technologies, this is one of the most exciting times but also one of the most uncertain. What will be the new Powertrain in the coming years? What will be the new fuel as an energy source for transportation? What will be the next energy storage and generation for the future? How will we bring the car out of the environmental equation? At Delphi, we have tried to prepare that revolution through evolution and herein we introduce two key technologies that address these concerns: introduction of hydrogen in discrete quantity in order to improve engine combustion and emissions through hydrogen on-board reformation, and a fuel cell Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) to supply power to engine-independent accessories with high efficiency and very low emissions. Our design selection criteria drove us to the following realizations: the Delphi hydrogen catalytic micro-reformer, and the Delphi solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) APU. We discuss in detail these technologies in this paper.