North Haven, CT (September 20th, 2023) – Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) announced today it was awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase II program from the Army to develop PCI’s fast startup, fuel flexible catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) reformer technology. PCI’s reformer will enable smaller, lighter fuel cell systems operating on a variety of gaseous fuels including propane, methane, and biogases with varying compositions. This breakthrough is especially suitable for military portable power and unmanned vehicular power, as well as for commercial applications.
The Phase I effort saw the successful design, fabrication, and demonstration of a nominal 10 kW (thermal) catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) reformer operating on multiple fuels, including propane, methane, 4 different compositions of biogases, and is suitable to fuel a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system. The reformer system produced good results which met or exceeded the customer’s specifications, including near-equilibrium selectivity.
The reformer showed rapid response capabilities by achieving steady-state conditions within 30 seconds. Moreover, cyclic durability testing over 111 hours and more than 100 cycles supported robust and stable operation. The risk of carbon formation and hydrocarbon slip was effectively managed, and the reformer complied with MIL-SPEC-810 vibration requirements. Collaborating with an academic partner, PCI identified a high-capacity mixed oxide sorbent, tailored for biogas contaminant cleanup. This supports the removal of sulfur and siloxanes from biogas, further enhancing the reformer’s versatility and environmental sustainability.
In Phase II, the reformer will be matured and integrated into a prototype breadboard generator, coupling the CPOX reformer with a SOFC stack. The prototype will be validated with biogas, propane, methane, and liquid fuels, and its long-term durability will be evaluated over thousands of start/stop cycles. PCI will also advance the biogas contaminant cleanup sorbent, leveraging expertise in biogas impurity cleanup as well as experience in gas cleanup and system design. The goal is to surpass the solicitation metrics and yield a scalable standalone CPOX reformer by the end of Phase II.
Success in Phase II will allow PCI to develop and mature a standalone generator in Phase III. Building on its track record of transitioning SBIR developed technologies to advanced prototypes and fielding through collaborations with primes and commercial partners, PCI is primed to propel this innovative solution towards commercial and military applications.
“The multi-fuel capability of our compact, high efficiency reformer will support product development of viable solid oxide fuel cell systems for a range of military and other portable and mobile power devices. We look forward to working with our military customers and fuel cell stack manufacturers to develop this system while also developing this for commercial applications. The ability to use conventional fuels and biofuels as well as other carbon neutral fuels will enable high efficiency fuel cells to meet practical near-term needs while significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions,” Kevin Burns, President of PCI.
Precision Combustion, Inc. is a clean energy and environmental technology company developing new reactors and systems for energy and environmental sector applications.
For more information, contact:
Anthony Anderson
Director, Marketing and Business Development
Email: aanderson@precision-combustion.com
