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Aug. 16 , 2004 -- Some of this week's stories: Fast-starting fuel reformer goal of researchBy A. Charlotte Lewis When our impatient society moves to vehicles powered by fuel cells, drivers will demand the same near-instant start-up offered by gasoline engines. Argonne scientists and engineers are developing a "reformer" that converts gasoline into a stream of pure hydrogen — the fuel for fuel cells — without the long warm-up period required by previous technologies. Fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and water through an electrochemical process and are a clean, efficient power source. Until large quantities of hydrogen are readily available for use, fuel reformers will be needed to convert available fuels into hydrogen or a hydrogen-containing mixture. A major challenge facing on-board reforming is start-up time. The chemical reactions necessary to produce large quantities of high-quality hydrogen require high temperatures — around 700 degrees C (1,300 degrees F). The reformer and the other components in the fuel processor can take considerable time (10 minutes or so for a gasoline reformer) to reach these operating temperatures and produce enough high-quality hydrogen to power the automotive fuel cell. The Department of Energy has targeted start-up times for fuel processors: 60 seconds by 2005 and 30 seconds by 2010. Argonne's Chemical Engineering Division (CMT) is leading a collaborative effort, FASTER (Feasibility of an Acceptable Start Time Experimental Reformer), to address the challenges associated with fast start-up of on-board fuel reformers. CMT is coordinating the efforts of researchers at other Argonne divisions (Energy Systems and Nuclear Engineering), three national laboratories — Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Pacific Northwest — and three private companies — Precision Combustion Incorporated, ArvinMeritor and Quantum Group. The results of the FASTER program will help DOE determine an effective research and development path for automotive fuel cell systems. CMT has devised a strategy for heating the fuel processor so it can deliver the hydrogen quickly. Gasoline enters an autothermal reactor which uses an award-winning catalyst developed and patented by Argonne. In the reactor, complex hydrocarbon molecules are broken down into a gas stream containing hydrogen and carbon oxides. Carbon monoxide can reduce the efficiency of the fuel cell, so additional chemical reactors are needed; these reactors need to be heated to different temperatures. Heat is provided by injecting air to oxidize part of the hydrogen. By controlling the rate of air injection, and heating the components in parallel rather than in series, the scientists are able to heat the different zones to different temperatures simultaneously, significantly speeding up the start-up process. When carbon monoxide has been reduced to acceptable levels, the hydrogen stream can be fed to the fuel cell. Eventually the team will work with an industrial partner to convert this laboratory-scale reactor to a size and weight suitable for practical use on board vehicles. Automotive components need to be compact, and so size and weight have been important considerations throughout the project. The main goal, however, has been to meet the start-up targets set by the Department of Energy. "The team believes that on-board fuel processing is a technically viable option and that, with continued hardware development and implementation of these start-up strategies, the 60-second goal can be met," said project leader Shabbir Ahmed (CMT). Other FASTER team members at Argonne are Rajesh Ahluwalia (NE), Sheldon
Lee (CMT), Steve Calderone (CMT), Kai Liao (CMT), Dennis Papadias (CMT),
Todd Harvey (CMT), Steve Lottes (ES), and Akram Hossain (CMT). The work
of the FASTER team has been greatly aided by various other members of
CMT's Fuel Cell Department and other technical and support staff of CMT.
Students explorescience, technical careers via videoconference linkBy Elizabeth Quill Instead of traveling on crowded school buses to Argonne-East, Chicago high school students are taking virtual field trips — stepping into the lab without leaving their desks. The "Science Careers" series of video conferences conducted by Argonne, the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Workforce Board, exposes sophomore, junior and senior students to careers in science and technology. "The whole idea is to get kids familiar with what it's like to be a scientist," said Fred Hartline of Argonne's Division of Educational Programs. "One of my pet peeves is that our education system doesn't really get kids prepared for, or aware of, the real world." The program uses long-distance learning technology to connect students with scientists. During interactive "visits," students see what's going on in the lab and chat with researchers about scientific projects, the researchers' own educations and occupations in scientific fields. People from all over the laboratory have participated. Scientists conducted the first conference last November from the Advanced Photon Source. Since then, there have been six more conferences. George Shaw (CHM) and his colleagues spoke to the honors chemistry class at a Chicago high school in January. He said he wanted to share his work in photochemistry with students. "We can't really take people into our lab, so we brought our lab to them," he said. "I really enjoyed it because I got a lot of feedback from the students. They asked insightful questions." Hartline said the pilot program has proven successful. He works with schools to convince teachers that the program is worthwhile. So far scientists have spoken mostly to honors and advanced placement classes, but there was a conference with a ninth-grade class. "We can't do this one-size-fits-all," Hartline said. "We have to prepare differently depending on the context, the students and the timeframe." Paula Moon (ES) spoke to an advanced placement chemistry class with two of her colleagues in June. The students had to design rockets that could land without breaking an uncooked egg. The students asked the scientists practical questions about their rocket designs and also personal questions about life as a scientist. "We tried to introduce ourselves as down-to-earth people with families and hobbies and busy lives. I like camping and gardening," Moon said. "We want the students to know they don't have to spend all day thinking about science to be a scientist." She said this is especially helpful in encouraging girls to enter the science field. Students need to know that scientists are real people and they can be scientists too. "I believe in the importance of education and reaching out," she said. Moon said she also likes to emphasize teamwork. Scientists don't work by themselves. Hartline said he helps scientists communicate with teenagers on their level, because that can be difficult. So far, the largest hurdles are technical. Participating schools need the infrastructure and bandwidth to achieve clarity in the video and audio signals. Hartline said pilot programs inevitably have glitches, but the results are promising. He hopes the program grows. "The point is to make the students aware of how exciting, involving and engaging a good career in science and technology can be," Hartline said. "Those students will eventually replenish the laboratory." The Science Careers series is sponsored by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Volunteers are needed to participate in future sessions. Anyone interested should contact Hartline at ext. 2-5704 or fhartline@dep.anl.gov. |
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