Production and use of low grade hydrogen for fuel cell telecom applications

Transcription

1 Production and use of low grade hydrogen for fuel cell telecom applications Fuel cells and hydrogen in transportation applications , Espoo, Finland Pauli Koski, VTT

2 Outline 1. On-site hydrogen production from liquid hydrocarbons Background H 2 production and purification Case: Bioethanol fueled system 2. Applications in transport sector Distributed/on-board H 2 generation By-product gas upgrading 3. Summary 2

3 1. On-site hydrogen production from liquid hydrocarbons

4 Background and motivation In applications where electricity is scarcely available, diesel generators are still the de facto standard Back-up power for critical infrastructure: Telecom, hospitals, military, Off-grid power: Mines, construction sites, telecom, Base station at Ridnitšohkka Lapland Finland* Reductions in CO 2 emissions are needed Particulate and NO x emissions are a problem in densely populated areas Diesel generator for back-up power** Pictures: * ** 4

5 Background and motivation H 2 fuel cells provide a solution to generate power without harmful emissions H 2 infrastructure not be available allover Logistics cost is still an issue! Fuel cell powered back-up system for telecom applications* (Ballard/Idatech) Liquid hydrocarbons + on-site H 2 generation Lower logistics costs in remote sites Methanol & ethanol as common fuels Fuel processing system needed CO 2 emitted in the process Two 50 L cylinders of H 200 bar : MJ 10 L of ethanol (92.4 w-% EtOH): MJ Picture: * 5

6 Fuel cells on telecom market - PEMFC based Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) Proton conducting polymer membrane as electrolyte High power density, % efficiency, C Uses hydrogen as primary fuel (1-20 ppm CO) Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) Can use methanol directly as liquid fuel Lower power density, C W, ~25 % efficiency, 5000 h lifetime Reformed Methanol Fuel Cell (RMFC) Internal methanol reformer and high temperature PEMFC stack, C % efficiency 2-10 kw scale, 5000 h lifetime Pictures: * ** 6

7 Fuel processing - On-site H 2 generation from liquid hydrocarbons Reforming Splitting the primary fuel into H 2 and CO Steam reforming (SR), partial oxidation (POx), autothermal reforming (ATR) Synthesis gas conditioning Water Gas Shift (WGS) CO + H 2 O CO 2 + H 2 Polishing Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Preferential Oxidation (PrOx) Permeable membranes With PEM fuel cells, CO level is crucial! Fuel Reforming syngas ~10 % CO Conditioning ~1 % CO Polishing H 2 PEMFC << 100 ppm 7

8 PEMBeyond - PEMFC system and low-grade bioethanol processor development for back-up and off-grid power applications Development of an integrated power system Crude bioethanol as fuel Cost < units System efficiency > 30% System lifetime > h Extensive laboratory testing and limited field trial (~1000 h) Roadmap for commercialization 3.5 years EU project 5/ / M budget, funded by FCH JU Coordinated by VTT, 5 partners 8

9 Reformed Ethanol Fuel Cell: 2 kw H 2 Generator + 7 kw Fuel Cell 9

10 Conclusions: Reformed Ethanol Fuel Cell prototype For short duration back-up applications (<100 h/year), diesel generator wins (hydrogen fueled PEMFC also an option!) Compared to diesel generator in off-grid applications ( h), reformed ethanol system offers same life cycle cost, and 63% of the CO 2 emissions with market bioethanol Bridging the gap between CO level in produced hydrogen and the PEMFC stack CO tolerance has required large efforts Very efficient PSA adsorbent developed, surpassing any commercial alternatives, ~10 ppm CO vs. 0.2 ppm Fuel cell and H 2 production systems can be used separately Due to flexibility of the PSA and SR catalyst, can be also applied to methanol or methane as fuel feed, not only ethanol 10

11 2. Applications in transport sector

12 Distributed and on-board hydrogen generation Hydrogen refueling stations (HRSs): Fuel flexibility: Methanol, Ethanol, Methane The same hydrogen generator may be used for the fuel that is locally available Heavy duty transport: Replacing diesel engines in marine vessels, locomotives and trucks Electrification not possible with batteries Liquid fuels easier to store and have higher energy density Fuel processing system takes more space, viable on long distances without refueling Shell HRS and GM fuel cell vehicle* Picture: * US Department of Energy: 12

13 By-product gas upgrading Chlor-alkali plants in Europe tons of by-product H 2 1 Mtoe (2014) Commonly vented or used for heat production Quality not good enough for automotive, but may be used for stationary fuel cells PSA + low quality H 2 feed Automotive H 2 fuel University of Porto developed pressure swing adsorbent can easily upgrade the gas stream 1 MW worth of by-product hydrogen 200 fuel cell vehicles* Replaces fossil fuels, more income to chloralkali industry 359 Mtoe consumed in transport sector (2015) Lab scale PSA unit used at University of Porto. * 30 kw per vehicle, 4 hours per day 13

14 3. Summary

15 Summary On-site/on-board production of hydrogen allows the use of easily transported and stored fuels in variety of applications Compared to combustion, higher efficiency, lower air pollution Fuel processing system needs space The fuel needs to be produced in a sustainable way If electricity and/or hydrogen infrastructure is available, these should be primarily used Liquid hydrocarbons only for remote applications / long distances, where diesel engines/generators are currently used Hydrogen production and purification technology may be applied for distributed hydrogen generation from methane/methanol/ethanol or to upgrade low quality hydrogen streams 15

16 Aknowledgement The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/ ) for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement n We wish to thank HyGear for their collaboration with PSA unit manufacturing, and St1 and Altia for providing bioethanol samples 16

17 Thank you for your interest! Contact person: Pauli Koski, VTT