Plasma-catalyzed, thermally-integrated reformer for fuel cell systems

摘要

A reformer is disclosed in one embodiment of the invention as including a channel to convey a preheated plurality of reactants containing both a feedstock fuel and an oxidant. A plasma generator is provided to apply an electrical potential to the reactants sufficient to ionize one or more of the reactants. These ionized reactants are then conveyed to a reaction zone where they are chemically transformed into synthesis gas containing a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. A heat transfer mechanism is used to transfer heat from an external heat source to the reformer to provide the heat of reformation.

主权项

1. A thermally integrated system for producing electricity using a feedstock fuel as an input, the system comprising:
a plasma reformer configured to convert a mixture containing a feedstock fuel and an oxidant to a synthesis gas containing a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide gas, the conversion of the mixture comprising an endothermic reaction; a fuel cell to chemically convert the synthesis gas to electricity and heat; and a heat transfer mechanism to transfer heat from the fuel cell to the plasma reformer to provide the heat for the endothermic reaction.