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-

Breakdown of Ammonia:

Ammonia Plasma Reforming:

x NH3 NH2 + H2 + e-

N2H4 + 2H2 + 2e-

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%

Production of Plasma:• A commonly used method of generating and

sustaining NTP is through an electric field. – Two parallel electrodes are applied with voltage to form a

capacitive discharge