Abstract:

Objectives A portable solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system includes a gas supply module, a fuel processing module, an SOFC power generation module, a thermal management module, an exhaust treatment module and a control module. There is a complex coupling relationship between the fuel processing module and the SOFC power generation module. Clarifying the coupling characteristics between them is crucial for improving system performance and operating time. Methods The effects of temperature, the carbon-to-oxygen ratio and other factors on the performance of catalytic partial oxidation (CPOx) of propane with Rh as catalyst were analyzed, and the coupling performance of CPOx and SOFC stack was further tested. Results With the increasing of fuel flow rate, the reforming efficiency first increases and then decreases. The most suitable flow rate is 100 or 150 mL/min. An increase in temperature can continuously improve the reforming efficiency, but the improvement in reforming efficiency at high temperatures caused by an increase in temperature gradually decreases. The optimal C/O ratio obtained from the experiment is 1.0. Under the optimal operating conditions, the output power of SOFC stack reaches 8.38 W. Conclusions Under the conditions of propane flow rate of 150 min^-1, carbon and oxygen mole fraction ratio of 1.0, and operating temperature of 800 ℃, the coupling performance between SOFC stack and CPOx is the best, the portable propane power generation system can generate 150 W of power with a volume of 12 L.

Key words: portable power generation equipment, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), catalytic partial oxidation (CPOx), propane, coupling characteristics