HYSYDAYS
1st World Congress of Young Scientists on Hydrogen Energy Systems

ISBN Print: 1-56700-230-7

CLEAN UP OF REFORMATE GASES FOR PEM FUEL CELL APPLICATIONS

DOI: 10.1615/HYSYDAYS2005.130
pages 87-92

要約

In these last years many projects have been developed in the automotive area in order to reduce pollutant emissions, such as carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons, very dangerous for people and environment.
One of the present research is related to the use of hydrogen as fuel for the vehicles, so that the emission should be only water vapor. This solution involves some problems, such as the hydrogen storage, the necessary infrastructures, and the substitution of vehicle engines.
The automotive industry is evaluating the hypothesis of hydrogen production, starting from oil derivatives (gasoline, methanol, etc.), directly on board, by equipping the vehicle with a fuel cell.
The gas mixture feeding the fuel cell derives from hydrocarbon reforming, so it contains residual amounts of carbon monoxide, i.e. a poison for the fuel cell electrodes [1].
The aim of this work is then the development of catalysts, able to almost completely abate the CO concentration in the hydrogen stream, by means of the preferential CO oxidation.
A progressive research pathway was followed leading from the development of several catalytic materials to the assessment of their catalytic properties, to the deposition research of the best catalyst on metal support.