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Spring 2016 European Energy Innovation     51

                                                       COMMUNICATION

Fuel cell systems and hydrogen
supply for early markets

INTRODUCTION                               of the reactor is ca. diameter 312 x       The FP system during verification tests
The European FP7 project Liquid Power      length 415 (mm) and its weight is ca.
is coming to an end after 5 years of       50 kg, which makes it suitable for onsite  Assembly of Pressure Swing Adsorption
developing a new generation of fuel        fuel reforming.                            System (rights by Photograph: www.
cell systems for back-up power markets                                                eventfotograf.in / ©JRF e.V.)
and for material handling vehicles,        PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION
as well as developing new innovative       SYSTEM                                      CONTACT DETAILS
hydrogen supply methods for onsite         On an industrial scale, state of the art    Dantherm Power
methanol reforming.                        pressure swing adsorption plants have       Majsmarken 1, DK-9500 Hobro,
                                           typical outputs of up to 100,000 m³/h       Denmark
The present report illustrates the         of pure hydrogen. Small to medium           www.dantherm-power.com
development of an integrated fuel          hydrogen production plants in the
processor (FP) and pressure swing          range of 10 m³/h commonly apply
adsorption (PSA) system for onsite         alternative purification technologies,
hydrogen production to fuel cell           which often lack in hydrogen purity or
systems. In this project, Catator is       have to employ very costly materials like
responsible for the development and        Palladium/Silver (Pd/Ag)-membranes.
delivery of the pressurized FP system.     To overcome these lacks is the target
ZBT is responsible for the development     within the LiquidPower project.
and delivery of the PSA system
as well as for the integration and         The main challenge for the
evaluation of both FP and PSA systems.     development of the PSA is the technical
Dantherm Power is responsible for          and economic feasibility of the small
the development of fuel cell systems       scale PSA in the context of pressurized
for back-up power and for material         methanol reforming. The nominal
handling vehicles.                         capacity is in a range of 10 m³/h (30
                                           kW) pure hydrogen and the design
A new generation fuel cell system for      pressure is 12 bar, suitable for onsite
backup power has been developed in         hydrogen production. The PSA contains
the project.                               commercially available components,
                                           and the system design makes it
The fuel cell system is constructed in     capable of achieving a following third
such a way that it is scalable in nominal  party CE certification. The application
output power from 1.6kW to 5.0kW.          of both the Machinery Directive and the
Also, the system can be modified with      Pressure Equipment Directive specify a
an add-on Cold Climate Kit, which          clearly structured roadmap for a future
enables the system to operate at very      commercial launch of the PSA.
low ambient temperatures (-40 degrees
Celsius).                                  ONGOING WORK
                                           The present work is focused on
ONSITE FUEL PROCESSOR SYSTEM               commissioning and evaluating the
The fuel processor which has been          fuel processor and pressure swing
developed is based on a coil-concept,      adsorption as an integrated system
where a steam reforming catalyst           as well as evaluating the new fuel
is inserted into a helix shaped tube       cell systems for back-up power and
(Optifomer design). The basic idea is to   material handling vehicles for the
minimize thermal stress on the steam       markets. The final results are expected
reformer section. The overall dimension    to be available in the spring of 2016. l

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