Partial oxidation and autothermal reforming of heavy hydrocarbon fuels with non-equilibrium gliding arc plasma for fuel cell applications.

摘要

Non-thermal plasma fuel reforming technology has several advantages over traditional catalytic or thermal processes including fast start time, high productivity, relatively low electrical energy costs to operate. Several novel gliding arc plasma reformers were developed and investigated for the partial oxidation of several fuels including n-Tetradecane, Diesel, and JP-8 in the partial oxidation and autothermal reforming regimes. High conversion was achieved with efficiencies greater than 80 percent. The results show that gliding arc systems are capable of reforming heavy hydrocarbon fuels with high conversion efficiency and are an important piece of technology for on-board vehicular reforming systems that should be further developed and optimized.