Publication | Peer reviewed papers | Sonstige
Adsorptive on-board desulfurization over multiple cycles for fuel-cell-based auxiliary power units operated by different types of fuels
Neubauer, R, Weinlaender C, Kienzl N, Bitschnau B, Schroettner H, Hochenauer C
Published 2018
Citation: Neubauer, R, Weinlaender C, Kienzl N, Bitschnau B, Schroettner H, Hochenauer C. Adsorptive on-board desulfurization over multiple cycles for fuel-cell-based auxiliary power units operated by different types of fuels. Journal of Power Sources. 1 May 2018, 385: 45-54.
Abstract
On-board desulfurization is essential to operate fuel-cell-based auxiliary power units (APU) with commercial fuels. In this work, both (i) on-board desulfurization and (ii) on-board regeneration performance of Ag-Al2O3 adsorbent is investigated in a comprehensive manner. The herein investigated regeneration strategy uses hot APU off-gas as the regeneration medium and requires no additional reagents, tanks, nor heat exchangers and thus has remarkable advantages in comparison to state-of-the-art regeneration strategies. The results for (i) show high desulfurization performance of Ag-Al2O3 under all relevant operating conditions and specify the influence of individual operation parameters and the combination of them, which have not yet been quantified. The system integrated regeneration strategy (ii) shows excellent regeneration performance recovering 100% of the initial adsorption capacity for all investigated types of fuels and sulfur heterocycles. Even the adsorption capacity of the most challenging dibenzothiophene in terms of regeneration is restored to 100% over 14 cycles of operation. Subsequent material analyses proved the thermal and chemical stability of all relevant adsorption sites under APU off-gas conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time 100% regeneration after adsorption of dibenzothiophene is reported over 14 cycles of operation for thermal regeneration in oxidizing atmospheres.