A hydrogen generating apparatus includes a reformer generating hydrogen-containing gas through a reforming reaction, a raw material supplier supplying a raw material to the reformer, a reaction gas supplier supplying reaction gas other than the raw material to the reformer, a hydro-desulfurizer removing a sulfur compound in the raw material supplied to the reformer, a recycle flow passage through which part of the hydrogen-containing gas generated by the reformer is supplied to the hydro-desulfurizer, a closing device that closes the recycle flow passage, and a controller that, when stopping operation, closes the closing device and controls the raw material supplier and the reaction gas supplier such that the raw material and the reaction gas are supplied to the reformer, before a temperature of the reformer drops down to a temperature at which deposition of carbon from the raw material on a reformation catalyst disposed inside the reformer is suppressed.

A method can be utilized to startup into a normal operating state a steam reformer arrangement for the production of hydrogen, methanol, or ammonia. A plurality of burners that are coupled to at least one reactor having reformer tubes may be controlled and regulated. In particular, startup may be performed out and regulated in an automated manner by the burners ensuring normal operation, in particular non-startup burners, being ignited indirectly as a function of temperature by means of burners provided specifically for startup, in particular pilot burners and startup burners, as a function of automatically evaluated flame monitoring at least at the pilot burners. This method provides time savings and savings of outlay in terms of personnel and also high operational reliability.

The present disclosure relates to a hydrogen purification/storage apparatus and method using a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC).

Hydrogen generation assemblies and methods of generating hydrogen are disclosed. In some embodiments, the method may include receiving a feed stream in a fuel processing assembly of the hydrogen generation assembly; and generating a product hydrogen stream in the fuel processing assembly from the received feed stream. Generating a product hydrogen stream may, in some embodiments, include generating an output stream in a hydrogen generating region from the received feed stream, and generating the product hydrogen stream in a purification region from the output stream. The method may additionally include receiving the generated product hydrogen stream in a buffer tank of the hydrogen generation assembly; and detecting pressure in the buffer tank via a tank sensor assembly. The method may further include stopping generation of the product hydrogen stream in the fuel processing assembly when the detected pressure in the buffer tank is above a predetermined maximum pressure.

An apparatus and process for steam reforming can be configured to produce at least one product with reduced carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen oxide emissions. Some embodiments can be better adapted for retrofitting a pre-existing steam reforming process while other embodiments can be better adapted for use in a newly constructed facility. Embodiments can be configured to utilize a synthetic air oxidant to provide combustion that results in formation of a flue gas having relatively high carbon dioxide concentrations that may also have low nitrogen and low nitrogen oxide concentrations. A control system can be configured for utilization in such embodiments to control the steam reforming process and/or oxidant formation process as well. Some embodiments can also be configured to provide carbon dioxide recovery that can permit recovery of a second product stream comprised of carbon dioxide.

Provided is a power conversion system having a solid-oxide fuel cell capable of stably generating electricity from hydrogen generated by an organic hydride. The power conversion system includes a solid-oxide fuel cell, a reactor for producing hydrogen and a dehydrogenation product from an organic hydride by dehydrogenation reaction, and a heat engine for generating motive power. The power conversion system separates the hydrogen produced by the reactor, and supplies the hydrogen as fuel to the solid-oxide fuel cell. Exhaust heat of the heat engine is supplied to both the solid-oxide fuel cell and the reactor.

Integrated liquid fuel catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) reformer and fuel cell systems can include a plurality or an array of spaced-apart CPOX reactor units, each reactor unit including an elongate tube having a gas-permeable wall with internal and external surfaces, the wall enclosing an open gaseous flow passageway with at least a portion of the wall having CPOX catalyst disposed therein and/or comprising its structure. The catalyst-containing wall structure and open gaseous flow passageway enclosed thereby define a gaseous phase CPOX reaction zone, the catalyst-containing wall section being gas-permeable to allow gaseous CPOX reaction mixture to diffuse therein and hydrogen rich product reformate to diffuse therefrom. The liquid fuel CPOX reformer also can include a vaporizer, one or more igniters, and a source of liquid reformable fuel. The hydrogen-rich reformate can be converted to electricity within a fuel cell unit integrated with the liquid fuel CPOX reactor unit.

Processes for controlling liquid organic hydrogen carrier processes are described. The processes include flow control of hydrogen as the primary variable with toluene make-up based on reactor conditions. Make-up hydrogen gas is provided via a flow controller which can be adjusted by the operator. A pressure controller on the separator is used to adjust the temperature at the reactors with a temperature controller. The inlet temperature to the reactors is maintained by heat exchangers, such as steam generators. The reaction conditions are monitored by temperature measurement and the inlet and/or the outlet of the reactor. When hydrogen feed rates are adjusted, the unit operations must increase or reduce the toluene to balance this situation. A differential temperature controller is used to reset the toluene flowrate to the reactor to achieve the desired processing objective.

Disclosed is a hydrogen reactor system having a hydrogen reactor configured to enable a chemical reaction involving aluminum and water to produce hydrogen and alumina. In accordance with an embodiment, the hydrogen reactor system also has a pressure regulator configured to regulate and control pressure inside the hydrogen reactor during the chemical reaction, a temperature regulator configured to regulate and control temperature inside the hydrogen reactor during the chemical reaction, and an aluminum slurry feed regulator configured to regulate and control a continuous feed of the aluminum and the water as an aluminum slurry into the hydrogen reactor during the chemical reaction, thereby enabling the hydrogen and the alumina to be continuously produced at a controlled rate. The aforementioned regulation and control enables the pressure and the temperature to be purposely operated in an elevated manner, which can increase purity of the hydrogen and the alumina being continuously produced.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a hydrogen production apparatus includes a hydrogen production mechanism configured to produce a hydrogen gas from a raw material by using a catalyst; and an operation control circuit configured to input a parameter value as an index indicating a state of the catalyst, and configured to control an operation maximum load of the hydrogen production mechanism to be variable in correspondence with the parameter value.