Fuel treatment device
AssigneeEberspaecher Climate Control Systems GmbH & Co. KG
InventorsKarsten REINERS, Andreas KAUPERT
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel treatment device (2) converts a hydrocarbon-containing fuel into a fuel for a fuel cell (3). The fuel treatment device (2) has for this purpose a mixture formation space (7) for forming and processing a mixture of fuel and another component, a reformer (8) for converting the mixture into a synthesis gas and a desulfurization stage (9) for removing sulfur from the synthesis gas or from the mixture. The reformer (8) and desulfurization stage (9) are arranged adjacent to each other in a housing (10) along an axis of the housing (10).
Claims19
A fuel treatment device for converting a hydrocarbon-containing fuel into a fuel for a fuel cell, the fuel treatment device comprising:
- a housing;
- a mixture formation space for forming and processing a mixture of fuel and another component;
- a reformer for converting the mixture into a synthesis gas;
- and
- a desulfurization stage for removing sulfur from the synthesis gas or from the mixture, wherein the reformer and the desulfurization stage are arranged adjacent to each other in the housing along a longitudinal axis of the housing.
A fuel cell system in a motor vehicle, the fuel cell comprising:
- a fuel cell;
- and
- a fuel treatment device comprising:
- a housing;
- a mixture formation space for forming and processing a mixture of fuel and another component;
- a reformer for converting the mixture into a synthesis gas;
- and
- a desulfurization stage for removing sulfur from the synthesis gas or from the mixture, wherein the reformer and the desulfurization stage step are arranged adjacent to each other in the housing along a longitudinal axis of the housing, wherein fuel generated by the fuel treatment device is fed as anode gas to the fuel cell for generating electric current.
A process for converting a hydrocarbon-containing fuel into a fuel for a fuel cell the process comprising the steps of:
- providing a fuel treatment device comprising a housing, a mixture formation space for forming and processing a mixture of fuel and another component, a reformer for converting the mixture into a synthesis gas and a desulfurization stage for removing sulfur from the synthesis gas or from the mixture, wherein the reformer and the desulfurization stage are arranged adjacent to each other in the housing along a longitudinal axis of the housing;
- feeding a hydrocarbon-containing fuel and another component to the mixture formation space;
- forming and processing a mixture of the hydrocarbon-containing fuel and the other component;
- converting the mixture in the reformer into a synthesis gas;
- removing sulfur from the mixture or the synthesis gas in the desulfurization stage;
- and
- regenerating the desulfurization stage by removing the sulfur bound in the desulfurization stage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.