SBIR Phase I: Ammonia and Syngas Impurity Tolerance for High Temperature - Proton Exchange Membrane (HT-PEM) Fuel Cells

SBIR 第一阶段：高温氨和合成气杂质耐受性 - 质子交换膜 (HT-PEM) 燃料电池

• 批准号: 2320804
• 负责人: Michael Waller
• 金额: $ 27.43万
• 依托单位: FALCON FUEL CELLS INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2320804&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Ammonia; Syngas; Impurity

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is the development of a fuel-flexible, high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cell that can operate on two carbon-free fuels: ammonia and syngas, both produced from waste biomass. The fuel-flexible HT-PEM fuel cell is uniquely suited for rapid adoption as a complete system that can run on a variety of fuels with only minor modifications to its fuel reformer design. The initial market for this technology is small to mid-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and these were valued at $1.1 billion in 2020 (expected to grow 240% by 2029). Due to the stringent weight and durability requirements in the UAV market, adoption of this technology in mobile and stationary power applications including backup power, marine power, and remote power generation is anticipated. Investigation of these fuel/technology combinations have not been widely researched and will contribute to the displacement of fossil fuel combustion technologies, lead to increased economic competitiveness of the United States, and support the national defense.The intellectual merit of this project stems from the HT-PEM fuel cells' ability to run on a diverse set of upfront fuel sources with only minor modification of the final assembled system, while still providing the key attributes required in most applications. For widespread adoption of new electricity generating devices, remaining fuel agnostic is a key technological trait, as proven by the enduring success of the internal combustion engine. The HT-PEM fuel cell can serve as a similar core technology, contributing to the global transition from fossil fuels. Nevertheless, there exists minimal research when operating a HT-PEM fuel cell on reformed ammonia and syngas generated from waste biomass, two popular renewable fuels expected to be widely used during this transition. The key question for this research is: what is the maximum concentration of impurities commonly found in reformed ammonia and syngas that will still allow a HT-PEM fuel cell to be technically and commercially viable? The key objectives are to outline the HT-PEM fuel cell performance while operating on ever increasing contaminant levels and identify the stop-loss mechanisms.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一种燃料柔性、高温质子交换膜（HT-PEM）燃料电池，该电池可以使用两种无碳燃料：氨和合成气，这两种燃料都是从废弃生物质中产生的。燃料柔性HT-PEM燃料电池非常适合作为一个完整的系统快速采用，只需对其燃料重整器设计进行少量修改，即可使用多种燃料。该技术的初始市场是中小型无人机（uav），这些无人机在2020年的价值为11亿美元（预计到2029年将增长240%）。由于无人机市场对重量和耐用性的严格要求，预计在备用电源、船用电源和远程发电等移动和固定电源应用中采用该技术。对这些燃料/技术组合的研究尚未得到广泛研究，将有助于取代化石燃料燃烧技术，提高美国的经济竞争力，并支持国防。该项目的智力优势在于，HT-PEM燃料电池能够在多种前期燃料源上运行，只需对最终组装系统进行少量修改，同时仍能提供大多数应用所需的关键属性。对于新发电设备的广泛采用，保持燃料不可知性是一个关键的技术特征，内燃机的持久成功证明了这一点。HT-PEM燃料电池可以作为类似的核心技术，为全球从化石燃料过渡做出贡献。然而，对于使用转化氨和废生物质产生的合成气操作HT-PEM燃料电池的研究很少，这两种流行的可再生燃料预计将在过渡期间广泛使用。这项研究的关键问题是：重整氨和合成气中常见的杂质的最大浓度是多少，才能使HT-PEM燃料电池在技术上和商业上可行？主要目标是概述在不断增加的污染物水平下HT-PEM燃料电池的性能，并确定止损机制。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。