Development of a thermally self-sustaining kWe-class diesel reformer using hydrogen peroxide for hydrogen production in low-oxygen environments

Abstract

Abstract A novel technology of a diesel reformer that uses hydrogen peroxide is developed to obtain the hydrogen required for fuel cell air-independent propulsion for underwater applications, such as submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles. Diesel fuel could be a promising hydrogen source for underwater applications due to its high hydrogen density and its globally well-equipped infrastructure. An alternative oxidant, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), is applied to supply not only oxygen but also the water required for diesel autothermal (ATR) reforming. The proposed reformer does not require an additional heating device to supply heat for the vaporization of diesel or oxidant due to the exothermic nature of the ATR reaction and the heat of decomposition of H 2 O 2 . The effects of H 2 O 2 on diesel reforming were confirmed based on operating the engineering-scale (kW e -class) diesel-H 2 O 2 reformer. Undecomposed H 2 O 2 caused an excessively high temperature in the mixing zone and a corrosion effect in the reformer wall. To overcome these phenomena, we introduced a catalytic H 2 O 2 decomposer to fully decompose hydrogen peroxide into steam and oxygen. From this important step, we essentially eliminate side effects from undecomposed H 2 O 2 and retain a high reforming efficiency by utilizing the heat of decomposition of H 2 O 2 .