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US 7,135,048 B1Granted
Volatile feedstock delivery system and fuel processing system incorporating the same
AssigneeIdaTech, LLC
InventorsDavid J. Edlund, Thomas G. Herron
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel processing assembly adapted to produce hydrogen gas from a volatile feedstock. The fuel processing assembly includes a fuel processor, such as a steam reformer. The fuel processing assembly further includes a feed assembly adapted to deliver a volatile feedstock, such as propane, to the fuel processor. In some embodiments, the fuel processing system includes a fuel cell stack that includes at least one fuel cell adapted to produce electrical power from hydrogen gas produced by the fuel processor.
Claims33
A fuel processing system, comprising:
- a volatile carbon-containing feedstock feed assembly, and a fuel processor fluidly connected with the feed assembly, wherein the feed assembly comprises:
- a plurality of heated reservoirs to receive and store under pressure a volume of a volatile carbon-containing feedstock from a supply;
- a heating assembly to selectively heat the plurality of heated reservoirs;
- and
- a delivery system in fluid communication with the plurality of heated reservoirs to selectively deliver a heated output stream containing the volatile carbon-containing feedstock from a selected one of the reservoirs;
- and
- a fuel processor in fluid communication with the delivery system to receive the heated output stream and to produce a product stream primarily containing hydrogen gas therefrom.
4 more elements
A fuel processing system, comprising:
- a fuel processor that produces a product gas stream primarily containing hydrogen gas from a feedstock;
- a feed assembly that delivers the feedstock at a selected pressure to the fuel processor, wherein the feed assembly includes a volatile feedstock feed system, comprising:
- a plurality of reservoirs that receive and store under pressure a volume of a volatile carbon-containing feedstock from a supply;
- a delivery system that draws a feed stream from a selected one of the reservoirs as a heated liquid stream, wherein the delivery system includes a delivery valve assembly that selectively delivers to the fuel processor the feed stream containing volatile carbon-containing feedstock from the selected one of the reservoirs at a pressure at least as great as the selected pressure;
- a supply system including a supply valve assembly that selectively fills the reservoirs with the volatile carbon-containing feedstock;
- and
- a heating assembly adapted that selectively heats the plurality of reservoirs to maintain the pressure of the volatile carbon-containing feedstock in the reservoirs at or above the selected pressure.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.