Desulfurization of Logistic Fuels for Fuel Cell Apus

摘要

The sulfur level in logistic fuels is very high; up to 3,000 ppmw S for jet fuels (JP-8, JP-5) and 10,000 ppmw S for naval distillate (NATO F-76) compared to the commercial gasoline (30 ppmw S) and diesel (15 ppmw S). The effective utilization of logistic fuels in fuel cell applications requires removal of refractory sulfur species (organosulfur compounds) to below 0.1 ppm. Sulfur removal is critical for fuel cells and adsorption is a promising technology for reducing the sulfur content to such low levels. TDA has developed a sorbent-based fuel desulfurization system that can easily be integrated with any fuel cell fuel processor. TDA's desulfurizer removes all of the refractory organic sulfur compounds in a regenerable manner from the military fuels (both JP-5 and JP-8) while it is still in the liquid phase, and reduces the total fuel sulfur content to subppm levels (e.g., less than 0.1 ppmw). TDA has built a 4- bed prototype jet fuel desulfurization system that could be integrated with a 1.5 kW fuel cell powered APU. Demonstration of the desulfurizer is being carried out with two types of jet fuels i.e., JP-5 (from ONR Fuel Cell Research Program, NAVAIR) and JP-8 (from Wright- Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio) fuels. We will be presenting test data from demonstration of the prototype desulfurization system in the conference.