Enhancing hydrogen production from propane partial oxidation via CO preferential oxidation and CO2 sorption towards solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications

Abstract

Under the demand of distributed power sources, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has attracted considerable interest for its high efficiency. However, non-carbon neutral and CO poisoning limit the applications of SOFC when converting hydrocarbons to hydrogen-rich gas by thermally incorporating an external/internal processor. In this work, an external reformer and SOFC system is established to improve hydrogen production therefore enhancing power density by CO preferential oxidation and CO2 sorption-enhanced methods. The prepared CoxMgyCa(1-x-y)Oz sorbents are observed to provide porous structures, and Co0.110Mg0.204Ca0.686Oz presents the most uniform pore size distribution and the highest CO2 sorption capacity by lowering the CO2 sorption activation energy via kinetic analysis. By using the mixture of Ni/Al2O3–SiC catalyst and the synthesized CoxMgyCa(1-x-y)Oz sorbents, sorption-enhanced hydrogen production from propane partial oxidation is achieved for a higher hydrogen production and lower CO, CO2 productions. The produced hydrogen is served as a fuel of the proposed SOFC system, and a maximum output power density of 513 mW/cm2 at 1.2 A/cm2 is reached, which is equivalent to 160 mL/min of pure H2. This work might offer a novel insight for developing low-cost processes towards indirect hydrogen production for fuel cells.