Van Ortega Cayetano Shama Karu Sean McKeown Themistoklis Zacharatos Powered by: Project NTP Hydrogen Generation

Why Fuel Cells? Environmental Effects –“They [fuel cells] will be 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.

Mass Flow Controller Mass Flow Controller Mass Flow Controller NH 3 Ar CH 4 Plasma Source-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 plasma From mL to 0.625mL Increased residence time of hydrogen rich gas in the plasma From sec to 0.75 sec

Analytical Analysis: Gas Chromatograph: Problems –Previous column detection of ppm of hydrogen –Sample must be at 1 atm Improvements –New column can detect in 100s of ppm of H 2 –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: CH 4 + 2H 2 O CO 2 + 4H 2 CH 4 + H 2 O CO + 3H 2 Temperature: 600–1300K with Ni/Ca/Carbon – based catalyst Methane plasma reforming: x CH 4 + e - C 2 H 2 + 3H 2 + e - C 2 H 4 + 2H 2 + e - C 2 H 6 + H 2 + e - C 2 H 2 + H 2 + e - Temperature ~ 300K C 2 H 4 + H 2 + e -

Breakdown of Ammonia: Ammonia Plasma Reforming: x NH 3 NH 2 + H 2 + e - N 2 H 4 + 2H 2 + 2e -

Reactor Specifications: Plasma Volume = mL Residence time in plasma = 0.75 sec Pressure = 60 torr Flow rate = 50 mL/min

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