By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 24 -- Unitel Technologies Inc., Mount Prospect, Ill., has designed and built a fully automated pilot plant for making fuel-cell hydrogen from JP8 (kerosene jet fuel).
The unit produces 20 standard l/min. of hydrogen, enough to generate about 975 w of fuel-cell power. It includes two gas delivery modules (air and nitrogen) and two liquid delivery modules (JP8 and water). All four feeds are controlled and monitored by computer. Continuous measurement and integration of outgoing products captures all data required for tight mass-balance calculations.
After mechanical tests, the pilot unit is scheduled to be shipped next month to the US Army Communications Electronics Command at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, which plans to fine-tune the process for converting a logistical fuel into hydrogen to operate a solid oxide fuel-cell stack. The objective is to generate "quiet power."
