Fuel processor apparatus and method based on autothermal cyclic reforming

A fuel processor based on autothermal cyclic reforming process for generating hydrogen, the apparatus comprising:

• two reformer reactors with integrated heat exchangers, said two reformer reactors cycling between a reforming step and a regeneration step;
• a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) for generating steam, said steam being mixed with fresh fuel and delivered to the reformer reactor operating in a reforming step to produce a hydrogen-rich reformate gas;
• a shift reactor receiving the reformate gas to reduce the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) gas present in the reformate gas to produce shift reactor product gas;
• a condenser receiving the shift reactor product gas to recover heat from the shift reactor product gas;
• a CO oxidizer receiving output gas stream from the condenser to further reduce the concentration of the CO in the condenser output gas stream;
• and
• a fuel cell having anode and cathode sections, the anode section receiving gas stream output by the CO oxidizer, and the cathode section receiving ambient air to initiate an electrochemical reaction with the gas stream received by the anode.

In a fuel processor based on autothermal cyclic reforming process, said processor having two reformer reactors with integrated heat exchangers, said two reformer reactors cycling between a reforming step and a regeneration step, a method of generating hydrogen gas comprising:

• receiving a mixture of fuel and steam in said reformer reactor operating in a reforming step, said fuel delivered from a fuel supply and said steam generated by a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), to produce a hydrogen-rich reformate gas;
• feeding the reformate gas to a shift reactor to reduce the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) gas present in the reformate gas to produce shift reactor product gas;
• interposing a CO oxidizer between a first and second heat exchangers, each of said first and second heat exchangers including a hot section and a cold section;
• receiving the shift reactor product gas in the hot section of the first heat exchanger for recovering heat, and delivering output gas stream from the first heat exchanger to the CO oxidizer to reduce the concentration of CO in the output gas stream from the first heat exchanger;
• supplying water to the cold section of each of said first and second heat exchangers to generate a mixture of steam and water;
• delivering the mixture of steam and water to the HRSG;
• supplying output gas stream from the CO oxidizer to the hot section of the second heat exchanger for recovering heat from gas stream output from the CO oxidizer;
• and
• supplying output gas stream from the second heat exchanger to an anode of a fuel cell, the fuel cell including a cathode for receiving ambient air to initiate an electrochemical reaction with the gas stream received by the anode.

A fuel processor based on autothermal cyclic reforming process for generating hydrogen, the apparatus comprising:

• two reformer reactors with integrated heat exchangers, said two reformer reactors cycling between a reforming step and a regeneration step;
• a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) for generating steam, said reformer reactor in the reforming step receiving the steam from the HRSG and fuel from an external source for producing a hydrogen-rich reformate gas, and wherein said reformer reactor operating in a reforming step;
• a shift reactor for reducing the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) present in the reformate gas;
• a CO oxidizer interposed between a first and second heat exchangers, each of said first and second heat exchangers including a hot section and a cold section, wherein product gas from the shift reactor is received in the hot section of the first heat exchanger for recovering heat, and output gas stream from the first heat exchanger is delivered to the CO oxidizer to reduce the concentration of CO in the output gas stream from the first heat exchanger;
• and
• a fuel cell having an anode and a cathode, the anode receiving the output gas stream from the second heat exchanger, and said cathode receiving ambient air to initiate an electrochemical reaction with the gas stream received by the anode.

In a fuel processor based on autothermal cyclic reforming process, said processor having two reformer reactors with integrated heat exchangers, said two reformer reactors cycling between a reforming step and a regeneration step, a method of generating hydrogen gas comprising:

• receiving a mixture of fuel and steam in said reformer reactor operating in a reforming step, said fuel delivered from a fuel supply and said steam generated by a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), to produce a hydrogen-rich reformate gas;
• feeding the reformate gas to a shift reactor to reduce the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) gas present in the reformate gas to produce shift reactor product gas;
• receiving the shift reactor product gas in a condenser to recover heat from the shift reactor product gas;
• and
• supplying condenser output gas stream to a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit for generating high purity hydrogen.