The US Army's Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) has awarded a $3.7 million contract to a team, led by the Gas Technology Institute (GTI, Des Plaines, IL) to develop a 10 kW portable generator powered by a solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) fueled by diesel or military logistics fuel. The objective is a compact and efficient solid-oxide electricity generator system capable of operating on military diesel, and JP8 fuels with up to 3,000 ppm sulfur content.
The initial award is expected to support the first phase of a multi-year program leading to a commercial unit. During the first phase, which is expected to last about one year, the team will focus on the design of two different 3 kW fuel-processing technologies integrated with SOFC stacks. During the subsequent phases, mission evaluations and scale-up will occur, resulting in a 10 kW prototype meeting military specifications. GTI also will design and build an integrated fuel processor and a SOFC stack based on a sulfur-tolerant, diesel-reforming catalyst.
