초록 ▼

A catalytic engine comprises a catalytic reformer and a turbine, and it employs the process steps of introducing a reactant mixture of fuel, air, water and recycled exhaust gas into a reaction zone, reacting said fuel mixture over oxidation catalysts in the reaction zone by adjusting the CO2/C, H2O/

A catalytic engine comprises a catalytic reformer and a turbine, and it employs the process steps of introducing a reactant mixture of fuel, air, water and recycled exhaust gas into a reaction zone, reacting said fuel mixture over oxidation catalysts in the reaction zone by adjusting the CO2/C, H2O/C, O2/C ratios and the % fuel of the reactant mixture to maintain the reactor at a temperature between 150-1100° C. and a pressure between 1 to 100 atmosphere, and feeding said refromate stream from said reaction zone to drive a downstream turbine, a turbocharger or any kind of gas turbine. This catalytic engine can be connected to an electrical generator to become a stationary or mobile power station, which can be used in transportation, industrial, utility and household applications.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A process of operating a catalytic engine which consists of a catalytic fuel reformer and a turbine/turbo charger, comprising the steps of: a) Introducing a stream of a fuel mixture into an inlet of a catalytic fuel reformer's reaction zone: i) Said inlet fuel mixture comprising of fuels, steam,

1. A process of operating a catalytic engine which consists of a catalytic fuel reformer and a turbine/turbo charger, comprising the steps of: a) Introducing a stream of a fuel mixture into an inlet of a catalytic fuel reformer's reaction zone: i) Said inlet fuel mixture comprising of fuels, steam, supplemental air and portion of exhaust gas re-circulated from said turbine/turbo charger through an exhaust line to provide heat, steam, oxygen and CO2 to the fuel mixture, and said fuel mixture having a limited % fuels H2O/C ratio >3.0, O2/C ratio >1.0 and CO2/C ratio >0.05,ii) Said catalytic fuel reformer's reaction zone containing one or more supported or unsupported Pt group metal catalysts and/or oxide oxidation catalysts,b) Reacting said fuel mixture without overheating said catalysts and without coke formation in said fuel reformer's reaction zone at a temperature between 150-1200° C. and a pressure between 1 to 100 atmosphere to produce a complete combustion reformate comprising mainly of steam, CO2, O2 and N2,c) Discharging the reformate from said fuel reformer to drive a downstream steam turbine, turbo charger or gas turbine. 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the % fuels, H2O/C, CO2/C and O2/C ratios of said inlet fuel mixture are adjusted individually or simultaneously for the purpose of controlling the reformer's reaction at a temperature constantly below 1200° C. and at a pressure between 1 to 100 atmosphere. 3. The process of claim 1, wherein said inlet fuel mixture is contacted with said catalysts inside the reformer's reaction zone at a residence time less than 300 milliseconds. 4. The process of claim 1, wherein the supported or unsupported Pt group metal catalysts are selected from the group consisting of platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, ruthenium and mixtures thereof. 5. The process of claim 1, wherein said inlet fuel mixture contains >20% water/steam for the purpose of absorbing more reaction heat to reduce the reaction zone's temperature and to drive a downstream steam turbine/turbo charger by the reformer's reformate. 6. The process of claim 1, wherein an external heat source selected from the group consisting of an electric hot wire, glow plug, spark plug, plasma device, and electrically heated monolith catalyst containing Pt group metal catalysts is used during the reformer's start-up period to initiate the oxidation reactions in said reaction zone. 7. The process of claim 1, wherein thermocouples or temperature sensing elements are installed inside or outside of the reformer's reaction zone, and they are used as feedback controllers to regulate the % fuels and/or the O2/C ratio in the fuel mixture for the purpose of keeping the reformer's temperature below 1200° C. 8. The process of claim 1, wherein said catalytic engine is connected to an electric generator to form a stationary or mobile power station. 9. The process of claim 4, wherein the unsupported Pt group metal catalysts in the reaction zone are present in the shape of gauge, screen, wire mesh, porous foam, plate. 10. The process of claim 4, wherein said supported Pt group metal catalysts in the reformer's reaction zone are present in the form of washcoats comprising support oxides which are impregnated with the Pt group metal catalysts. 11. The process of claim 10, wherein said washcoats containing Pt group metal catalysts are further coated on various inert ceramic or metallic substrates in the shape of monolith, pellet, bead, porous foam, plate, or static mixer. 12. The process of claim 10, wherein said support oxides are one or more oxides selected from the group consisting of Al2O3, cerium oxide, zirconium oxide , cerium-zirconium oxide, cerium-zirconium rare earth oxide and/or its composite and mixtures thereof. 13. The process of claim 1, wherein said oxide oxidation catalyst are selected from the group consisting of oxides of copper, vanadium, cobalt, nickel, iron, cerium, zirconium, and mixtures thereof. 14. The process of claim 12, wherein the support oxides are further impregnated and/or mixed with one or more additional oxides selected from the group consisting of oxides of lanthanum, praseodymium, yttrium, calcium, barium, strontium, magnesium and mixtures thereof. 15. The process of claim 10, wherein the Pt group metals in the washcoats are present in the amount of 0.01 to 10 wt % of the oxides. 16. The process of claim 11, wherein said inert ceramic substrate is selected from the group consisting of alumina, alumina-silica, alumina-silica-titania, mullite, cordierite, zirconia, zirconia-ceria, zirconia-spinel, zirconia-mullite or silicon carbide, and the substrate is in the shape of monolith, pellet, bead, porous foam, plate, or static mixer. 17. The process of claim 1, wherein said fuels in the inlet fuel mixture are one or more chemical compounds selected from the group consisting of methane, LPG, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, natural gas, C1-C8 alcohols, bio-ethanol, bio-diesel, biobutanol, bio-methane and mixtures thereof.