In this context, vaporized Jet-A fuel is injected with either preheated air and/or steam and then reacted over a catalyst bed to break-down the fuel's constituents into primarily hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) which are fed to the SOFC for production of electrical power.

The scope of this particular phase of the research program is strictly limited to developing a steam/fuel/air injector and then characterizing its performance by appropriate testing.

Another very important technology concept for specific investigation in this research task is to develop advanced injection and mixing approaches for the combined hot air, steam and Jet-A fuel feed stream to significantly mitigate carbon deposition. Optimized fuel-air-steam injection techniques will not only boost reformer efficiency, but, increase reactor performance and ensure long term stability with respect to internal coke formation on catalyst surfaces and reactor walls.

The scope of this research and development is to design, fabricate and test three different reformer fuel-feed injectors. One injector will be based on catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) technology, one injector will be for an auto-thermal reforming (ATR) system and the last injector is for a steam reformer (SR) configuration. These three air/fuel/steam injector concepts will be explored during testing for the purpose of enhancing mixing in the reformer to eliminate carbon deposition and to reduce reformer size and weight. Catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX), steam reforming (SR), and the auto-thermal reforming (ATR) reactor are the three possible options identified for this APU system.

Fuel Reformer Injector Test Facility

The CE-7C Fuel Reformer Injector Test Facility is used to study Jet-A catalytic fueled reformer reactors coupled with advanced fuel injector and mixer designs. The reformer technology under development at GRC is focused on the integration of a compact light-weight fuel processor with a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) to generate 10-20 kW power output for use in a commercial Aircraft Auxiliary Power Unit (APU). Liquid or vaporized Jet-A fuel can be injected with either preheated air and/or steam, and then reacted over various reformer catalyst bed materials including monolith, microlith and pellet. The function of the reformer is to break down the fuel constituents into primarily a hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) rich syngas. This syngas exiting the test reformer can either be fed to a customer furnished SOFC for the production of electrical power or directed to the rigs catalytic combustor. The facility has the capability to operate with pressurized gaseous fuels or other liquid hydrocarbons which may include ethanol, gasoline and diesel. The reformer chamber can be operated from atmospheric pressure to 75 psig and up to 950? C maximum reformate outlet temperature.

This facility will use state-of-the-art optical and laser-based diagnostic techniques, including the Raman Spectroscopy and Planar Elastic Scattering, Schlieren Photography, and Particle Imaging Velocimetry. Through the use of quartz viewport access, these methods can reveal species concentrations, injector patternization, velocity contours, particle size distribution and fuel-air-steam mixing characteristics. A LabViewTM data acquisition system is interfaced with the injector test rig to provide process control along with acquisition and recording of steady-state data. The facility utilizes a Varian chromatography system model ?Saturn 2000? GC/MS, for analysis of reformate gas composition.

Researchers

Dr. Chi-Ming Lee
Martin J. Rabinowitz
Angela D. Surgenor