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US 2006/0032137 A1Published application
Catalyst coated heat exchanger
AssigneeNuvera Fuel Cells, LLC
InventorZhi Xue
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This invention relates to heat exchangers coated with a catalyst, as well as related methods and fuel reformers.
Claims38
A fuel reformer, comprising:
- a reforming reaction zone;
- a first heat exchanger in fluid communication and downstream of the reforming reaction zone;
- a first water gas shift reaction zone in fluid communication and downstream of the first heat exchanger;
- and
- a second heat exchanger in fluid communication and downstream of the first water gas shift reaction zone;
- wherein a surface of at least one of the first and second heat exchangers is coated with a catalyst selected from the group consisting of a combustion catalyst, a preferential oxidation catalyst, and a desulfurization catalyst.
3 more elements
A fuel reformer, comprising;
- a heat exchanger, a surface of which is coated with a catalyst selected from the group consisting of a combustion catalyst, a preferential oxidation catalyst, and a desulfurization catalyst;
- and
- a preferential oxidation reaction zone downstream of the heat exchanger.
A method, comprising:
- reacting a reformate generated from a reforming reaction with a first air stream to generate heat, the reformate and the first air stream flowing outside a first heat exchanger having an outer surface coated with a first combustion catalyst or a first preferential oxidation catalyst, which facilitates the reaction between the reformate and the first air stream.
A method for reducing the startup time of a reformer, comprising:
- reacting a reformate generated from a reforming reaction with an air stream to generate heat, the reformate and the air stream flowing outside a heat exchanger having an outer surface coated with a combustion catalyst or a preferential oxidation catalyst, which facilitates the reaction between the reformate and the air stream;
- and
- heating the heat exchanger to a predetermined temperature using the heat generated from the reaction between the reformate and the air stream during a startup process of the reformer.
A method, comprising:
- flowing a reformate generated from a reforming reaction outside a heat exchanger having an outer surface coated with a desulfurization catalyst, which facilitates the removal of sulfur in the reformats.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.