Generation of 1 kg/h of hydrogen from diesel oil or soybean biodiesel

FUEL 153

Albin Czernichowski, echph@wanadoo.fr, Mieczyslaw Czernichowski, echph@wanadoo.fr, and Krystyna Wesolowska, echph@wanadoo.fr. ECP - GlidArc Technologies, 22 Denis Papin, La Ferte St Aubin, 45240, France
We built and tested a reformer of Diesel oil and 100% Soybean biodiesel. A 6-L reformer is based on our cold-plasma discharge (GlidArc) inserted in a high-temperature zone of Partial Oxidation driven by atmospheric air. We have achieved a 1 kg/h of H2 (plus 14 kg/h of CO) output at the fuel consumption of 8 or 9 kg/h and air supply of 31 or 28 m3 (STP) per hour, respectively. It corresponds to 80 kW maximal LHV output power at our plasma assistance power of 0.3 kW. Our reformer was then installed in McMinnville (TN) peak power station where the full-scale tests of NOx removal from whole exhaust of a 4-MW Caterpillar Diesel engine were performed. The NOx concentration in the exhaust was reduced by more than 96% to a very acceptable level of 30 ppm. Similar reformer was then successfully tested in Renewable Hydrogen Foundation in Golden (CO) for feeding a spark engine with syngas generated from the Soybean biodiesel and even a crude Soybean oil.