Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc. (RRFCS) has developed a system that produces synthesis gas from air and natural gas. A near-term application being considered for this technology is synthesis gas injection into reciprocating engines for reducing NO{sub x} emissions. A proof of concept study using bottled synthesis gas and a two-stroke reciprocating engine showed that injecting small amounts of high-flammable content synthesis gas significantly improved combustion stability and enabled leaner engine operation resulting in over 44% reduction in NO{sub x} emissions. The actual NO{sub x} reduction that could be achieved in the field is expected to be engine specific, and in many cases may be even greater. RRFCS demonstrated that its synthesis gas generator could produce synthesis gas with the flammable content that was successfully used in the engine testing. An economic analysis of the synthesis gas approach estimates that its initial capital cost and yearly operating cost are less than half that of a competing NO{sub x} reduction technology, Selective Catalytic Reduction. The next step in developing the technology is an integrated test of the synthesis gas generator with an engine to obtain reliability data for system components and to confirm operating cost. RRFCS is actively pursuing opportunities …

Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc. (RRFCS) has developed a system that produces synthesis gas from air and natural gas. A near-term application being considered for this technology is synthesis gas injection into reciprocating engines for reducing NOx emissions. A proof of concept study using bottled synthesis gas and a two-stroke reciprocating engine showed that injecting small amounts of highflammables content synthesis gas significantly improved combustion stability and enabled leaner engine operation resulting in over 44% reduction in NOx emissions. The actual NOx reduction that could be achieved in the field is expected to be engine specific, and in many cases may be even greater. RRFCS demonstrated that its synthesis gas generator could produce synthesis gas with the flammables content that was successfully used in the engine testing. An economic analysis of the synthesis gas approach estimates that its initial capital cost and yearly operating cost are less than half that of a competing NOx reduction technology, Selective Catalytic Reduction. The next step in developing the technology is an integrated test of the synthesis gas generator with an engine to obtain reliability data for system components and to confirm operating cost. RRFCS is actively pursuing opportunities to perform the integrated …

High voltage (HV) insulators are critical components in high-energy, accelerator and pulsed power systems that drive diverse applications in the national security, nuclear weapons science, defense and industrial arenas. In these systems, the insulator may separate vacuum/non-vacuum regions or conductors with high electrical field gradients. These insulators will often fail at electric fields over an order of magnitude lower than their intrinsic dielectric strength due to flashover at the dielectric interface. Decades of studies have produced a wealth of information on fundamental processes and mechanisms important for flashover initiation, but only for relatively simple insulator configurations in controlled environments. Accelerator and pulsed power system designers are faced with applying the fundamental knowledge to complex, operational devices with escalating HV requirements. Designers are forced to rely on “best practices” and expensive prototype testing, providing boundaries for successful operation. However, the safety margin is difficult to estimate, and system design must be very conservative for situations where testing is not practicable, or replacement of failed parts is disruptive or expensive. The Phase I program demonstrated the feasibility of developing an advanced code for modeling insulator breakdown. Such a code would be of great interest for a number of applications, including high energy …

In this program, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), General Motors (GM) and Michigan Technological University (MTU) have focused on fundamental studies that address water transport, accumulation and mitigation processes in the gas diffusion layer and flow field channels of the bipolar plate. These studies have been conducted with a particular emphasis on understanding the key transport phenomena which control fuel cell operation under freezing conditions. Technical accomplishments are listed below: • Demonstrated that shutdown air purge is controlled predominantly by the water carrying capacity of the purge stream and the most practical means of reducing the purge time and energy is to reduce the volume of liquid water present in the fuel cell at shutdown. The GDL thermal conductivity has been identified as an important parameter to dictate water accumulation within a GDL. • Found that under the normal shutdown conditions most of the GDL-level water accumulation occurs on the anode side and that the mass transport resistance of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) thus plays a critically important role in understanding and optimizing purge. • Identified two-phase flow patterns (slug, film and mist flow) in flow field channel, established the features of each pattern, and created a flow pattern …