Van Ortega CayetanoShama Karu
Sean McKeownThemistoklis Zacharatos
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~spm209/SD.html
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Project NTPHydrogen Generation
Why Fuel Cells?
• Environmental Effects– “They [fuel cells] will be 70-90 percent cleaner than
conventional gasoline powered vehicles on a fuel cycle basis, and will produce 70 percent less carbon dioxide emissions.” PCAST
– Reduce noise pollution
• Social Ramifications– Lower energy costs– Less dependence on foreign
resources
Goals:
• Breakdown of Hydrogen-rich gases at a lower temperature than the current conventional methods using NTP
• Design a new plasma reactor– Increased residence time of hydrogen-rich gas in
plasma
– Reduce system leaks
– Parallel plate design for larger plasma volume
Uses of research:
• Hydrogen rich gas reformer– Fuel cells (can be recharged with hydrogen)– Stationary fuel cell unit (in use with homes and
corporate buildings)– Assimilate within existing gasoline
infrastructure (to provide hydrogen to fuel cell powered automobiles)
• Different characteristics of plasmas are produced with various means of energy applications.
• Various Types of Plasmas are:– Homogeneous Plasma– Arc Discharge (lightning)– Thermal Plasma– Non Thermal Plasma (NTP)
(fluorescent tubes)
What is Plasma?
• Plasmas are an equilibrium of ions and electrons within a confined space.
MassFlowController
MassFlowController
MassFlowController
NH3
Ar
CH4
PlasmaSource-Grad
Schematic Diagram of Gas Flow:
GC
Old vs. New plasma reactor:
Increased Ammonia to Argon flow ratio From 1:25 to 1:5
Increased the volume of plasmaFrom 0.012 mL to 0.625mL
Increased residence time of hydrogen
rich gas in the plasma From 0.0014 sec to 0.75 sec
Analytical Analysis:
Gas Chromatograph:• Problems
– Previous column detection of 100-1000 ppm of hydrogen
– Sample must be at 1 atm
• Improvements – New column can detect in
100s of ppm of H2
– Automated GC: Gas sampler will prevent loss of material
Photon Emission Spectrometer:
• Problems– Spectrometer is only a
qualitative measurement
• Improvements:– Will work even when
sample is at low pressure
– Can detect hydrogen in low concentrations
Breakdown of Methane:
Methane steam reforming:
CH4 + 2H2O CO2 + 4H2
CH4 + H2O CO + 3H2Temperature: 600–1300K with Ni/Ca/Carbon – based catalyst
Methane plasma reforming: x CH4 + e- C2H2 + 3H2 + e-
C2H4 + 2H2 + e-
C2H6 + H2 + e-
C2H2 + H2 + e-
Temperature ~ 300K C2H4 + H2 + e-
Reactor Specifications:
• Plasma Volume = 0.625 mL• Residence time in plasma = 0.75 sec• Pressure = 60 torr• Flow rate = 50 mL/min
SectionLength/Radius (cm) Pex Pey Per Rex Rey Rer
Inlet / Outlet 0.6 R 0.27 0.51Counterbore 1.75 R 0.79 1.49Electrodes 0.15 X 2.7 2.04 0.09 3.88 0.18
Peclet Number Reynold's Number
Future Work:
• Plasma ignition at atmospheric pressure • Find a more quantitative method of
detection• Work with catalysts to increase breakdown• Increase efficiency of ammonia and
methane cracking• Plasma generation by RF power source• Reactor recycle loop/bypass
Acknowledgments:
• Stevens Institute of Technology: Technogenesis Seed Fund
• Dr. Woo Y. Lee, Advisor
• Dr. Kurt Becker, Plasma Specialist
• George Wohlrab, Machinist
• CVD Graduate Students– Hongwei Qiu
– Haibaio Chen
– Justin Daniel Meyer
Economics: (provided by SEED)
• Cumulative NPV = $43,233,663– Initial investment of $45 million
• Baseline MARR = 10.0%• IRR = 59.71%
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