Hydrocarbon reformer performance sensing system
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring the performance of a hydrocarbon reformer, comprising:
- a) a quantitative hydrocarbon sensor; and
b) means for providing a sample of the reformate output of said reformer to said sensor.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a fuel cell system, a reformer supplies reformate to a fuel cell stack. A portion of the reformate flow is diverted for analysis by a hydrocarbon analysis system. Residual hydrocarbons in the reformate may damage the anodes of the fuel cell stack. Although incompletely-reformed reformate may include a variety of hydrocarbon compounds, the invention simply measures methane as an indicator of the overall performance level of the reformer. A currently preferred embodiment includes a catalytic combustion methane sensor. Combustion air and reformate are delivered in a fixed ratio to the sensor via positive displacement pumps. The system can provide alarm means or optionally a shut-off means to protect a fuel cell stack from elevated levels of hydrocarbons in the reformate stream.
-
Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A system for monitoring the performance of a hydrocarbon reformer, comprising:
-
a) a quantitative hydrocarbon sensor; and
b) means for providing a sample of the reformate output of said reformer to said sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A fuel cell system, comprising:
-
a) a fuel cell stack;
b) a hydrocarbon reformer for supplying gaseous fuel in the form of reformate to said stack;
c) a quantitative hydrocarbon sensor for measuring hydrocarbon content of said reformate; and
b) means for providing a sample of said reformate to said sensor.
-
Specification