CATALYST STRATEGIES FOR FUEL CELLS OPERATING WITH HYDROCARBON FUELS

摘要

A major requirement for near term implementation of fuel cell power generation systems is use of our existing hydrocarbon fuel infrastructure.Fuel cells operating on hydrocarbon fuels will have early opportunities for large market applications within a number of sectors,including residential and industrial heat and power systems,auxiliary power units for cars and long-haul trucks,and a wide array of military power systems.Infrastructure fuels (including natural gas,propane,gasoline,diesel and kerosene)are based on hydrocarbon compounds of differing complexity and contain sulfur impurities of varying amounts.In order for use with a fuel cell,the hydrocarbon fuel is first converted into a gas that is compatible with efficient fuel cell operation.This is the purpose of the fuel processing system.In general,the technical difficulty associated with fuel processing increases with carbon number and sulfur content of the hydrocarbon fuel.