Jet Fuel Desulfurizer for Fuel Cell powered APU

Abstract

The effective utilization of logistic fuels in fuel cell applications requires removal of refractory sulfur species (organosulfur compounds) to below 0.1 ppm. TDA has developed a sorbent-based fuel desulfurization system that can easily integrate with any fuel cell fuel processor. TDA's desulfurizer removes all of the refractory organic sulfur compounds 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 sub-ppm 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.

Onboard Miniature Jet Fuel Desulfurizer for Mobile Fuel Cell Power Systems

“…The sulfur removal performance of the developed desulfurizer is favorably comparable to the results reported in the literature, [22,31,35,36] although differences in sorbent materials, actual fuel compositions, and operating conditions should be taken into account. The best desulfurization performance observed in this study (at 240 °C for an LHSV of 0.6 h À1 with a freshly activated sorbent) indicates that ≈13 mL of desulfurized fuel can be treated per gram of sorbent for a target sulfur concentration of ≤1 ppm w .…”

“…It is to be noted that the sorbent material used in the present work is also regenerable in an oxidative (air) environment. [31] 3. Results and Discussion…”

Sulfur Removal Solutions for Liquid-Fueled Fuel Cell Operation on ULSD Fuels

“…Many attempts have been made lately to develop sorbents, new processes and novel reactors for desulfurization of liquid hydrocarbon fuels. 1,6,9,12,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] The reported sorbents include the reduced metals, 16,[23][24][25][26][27][28][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] metal oxides, 25,[35][36] metal sulfides, 37 zeolite-based materials 26,[38][39][40][41][42] and carbon materials. [43][44][45][46] Alternative methods such as oxidative and extractive desulfurization, biodesulfurization, etc., are also being explored in recent years to produce ultra-low-sulfur liquid transportation fuels.…”