Study on possibility of diesel reforming with hydrogen peroxide in low-oxygen environments

Abstract

For effective power generation with fuel cells in low-oxygen environments such as submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles, a hydrogen source which has a high hydrogen storage density is required. Diesel fuel is easy to storage and supply due to its liquid phase and it has a high density per unit volume and unit mass of hydrogen that required for driving the fuel cells. In this paper, diesel fuel was selected as a hydrogen source for driving the fuel cell in oxygen lean environments. In addition, the aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution was suggested as an alternative oxidant for hydrogen production through the diesel reforming reaction because of its high oxygen density and liquid phase which makes it easy to storage. In order to determine the characteristics of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant of diesel reforming, comparative experiments were conducted and it was found that hydrogen peroxide solution has the same characteristics when reformed with oxidants of both steam and oxygen. Moreover, the commercial diesel reforming performances were analyzed according to the reaction temperature and concentration of aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution. Then, through the 49 hours accelerated degradation tests, the possibility of hydrogen production via diesel and aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution was confirmed.