Claims
- 1. A naphtha-based fuel suitable for use in a fuel cell and a fuel cell reformer, a vehicle on-board said fuel having the following properties: a hydrogen content of at least about 15%, by weight, a sulfur content of less than about 1 ppm, an aromatics content of from about 0% to about 1%, by weight, and a paraffin content of about 30% to about 80%, by weight.
- 2. The naphtha-based fuel according to claim 1, wherein the naphtha has been hydrotreated.
- 3. The naphtha-based fuel according to claim 2, wherein the hydrotreated naphtha has been hydrogenated.
- 4. The naphtha-based fuel according to claim 3, wherein the hydrotreating and the hydrogenation are carried out in a single stage.
- 5. The fuel according to claim 1, wherein the fuel cell is selected from the group consisting of solid oxide, proton exchange membrane, phosphoric acid, and molten carbonate fuel cells.
- 6. The fuel according to claim 1 wherein the carbon monoxide content is less than 10 ppm.
- 7. A process for providing a hydrogen rich fuel to power a vehicle having an electric motor, which comprises the steps of:
a) feeding a naphtha-based fuel to a reformer on-board said vehicle, said naphtha-based fuel having a hydrogen content of at least about 15%, by weight, a sulfur content of less than 1 ppm, an aromatics content of about 0% to about 1%, by weight, and a paraffin content of about 30% to about 80%, by weight; b) converting the naphtha to syngas in said reformer and extracting hydrogen from the other constituents; and c) passing the hydrogen into a fuel cell on board said vehicle to produce an electric current to energize the electric motor and power the vehicle.
- 8. The process according to claim 7, wherein the naphtha has been hydrotreated.
- 9. The process according to claim 8, wherein the hydrotreated naphtha has been hydrogenated.
- 10. The process according to claim 9, wherein the hydrotreating and hydrogenation are carried out in a single stage.
- 11. The process according to claim 7, wherein the fuel cell is selected from the group consisting of solid oxide, proton exchange membrane, phosphoric acid and molten carbonate.
- 12. The process according to claim 7, wherein in step b) the carbon monoxide content is lowered to less than 10 ppm.
RELATED U.S. APPLICATION DATA
[0001] This Application is a Non-Provisional Application based upon Provisional Application U.S. Ser. No. 60/292,595 which was filed on May 21, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference and upon which a claim to priority is based.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60292595 |
May 2001 |
US |