Feasibility study of auto thermal reforming of biogas for HT PEM fuel cell applications

Abstract

Biogas is easily transportable, storable and CO2 neutral. The scope of this work is to show the feasibility of H2 production through Auto Thermal Reforming (ATR) of biogas and its utilisation in High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (HT-PEM FC) application. In this study, a fuel cell system was modelled and simulated using MATLAB/Simulink to find the feasibility of biogas reforming for High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HT PEM) Fuel Cell Application. The main criteria considered are high yield of H2 and lowest possible CO. The optimum temperature, Steam to Carbon Ratio (SCR), Air- Fuel Ratio (AFR), and reforming temperature were found out with the help of simulation. A test reference 5 kWth Auto Thermal Reformer (ATR) with Water Gas Shift (WGS) reactor was built according to the simulation guidelines in order to produce H2 to feed a 1 kWel HT-PEM Fuel Cell with anode gas. The reliability and the durability of the system were tested with a start-and-stop strategy and a continuous mode respectively. The electrical efficiency of the whole Fuel Cell system was simulated to around 30%. The experimental work validated the simulation results within acceptable margins. The experimental study shows that it is not only feasible to produce on-board H2 with biogas but also that the start-and-stop mode of operation does not damage the fuel cell which makes it even suitable for automotive application.