Journal of Power Sources, Vol.84, No.2, 183-186, 1999
The PEMFC-integrated CO oxidation - a novel method of simplifying the fuel cell plant
Natural gas and methanol are the most economical fuels for residential fuel cell power generators as well as for mobile PEM-fuel cells. However, they have to be reformed with steam into hydrogen, which is to be cleaned from CO by shift-reaction and by partial oxidation to a level of no more than 30 ppm CO. This level is set by the Pt/Ru-C-anode of the PEMFC. A higher partial oxidation reaction rate for CO than those of Pt/Ru-C can be achieved in an oxidic An-catalyst system. In the Fe2O3-Au system, a reaction rate of 2.10(-3) mol CO/s g An at 1000 ppm CO and 5% "air bleed" at 80 degrees C is achieved. This high rate allows to construct a catalyst-sheet for each cell within a PEMFC-stack. Practical and theoretical current/voltage characteristics of PEMFCs with catalyst-sheet are presented at 1000 ppm CO in hydrogen with 5% "air bleed". This gives the possibility of simplifying the gas processor of the plant.