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US 2007/0180769 A1Published application
Fuel reformer having closed loop control of air/fuel ratio
OwnerJoseph Bonadies, Russell Boschinventors
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OwnerJoseph Bonadies, Russell Boschinventors
Estimating the term…
A reformer system comprising a conventional hydrocarbon reformer; a controllable fuel supply system; a controllable air supply system; an oxygen sensor disposed downstream of the reformer; and control means for receiving input from the oxygen sensor and setting the flow values for fuel and air. During start-up of the reformer, air and fuel are mixed in a stoichiometric ratio, typically about 14.5/1 A/F for a typical alkane fuel, the heat of combustion being maximum at the stoichiometric ratio. The mixture is combusted ahead of the reformer for typically about 20 seconds, and the hot exhaust is passed through the reformer. After the combustion event, combustion is terminated and the A/F ratio is lowered to about 5/1 to allow reforming to occur. Once the desired fuel flow rate for combustion is established it can be stored in computer memory as a starting value for subsequent starting events.
A system for closed-loop control of air/fuel ratio in an air/fuel mixture being supplied to a hydrocarbon reformer, comprising:
A reformer system for catalytically reforming hydrocarbons to provide reformate, comprising:
A method for closed-loop control of air/fuel ratio in an air/fuel mixture being supplied to a hydrocarbon reformer, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.