Design and test of a 5 kWe high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell system operated with diesel and kerosene

A high-temperature PEFC system, developed with the aim of delivering 5 kW electrical power from the chemical energy stored in diesel and kerosene fuels for application as an auxiliary power unit, was simulated and tested. The key components of the system were an autothermal reformer, a water–gas shift reactor, a catalytic burner, and the HT-PEFC stack. The targeted power level of 5 kW was achieved using different fuels, namely GTL kerosene, BTL diesel and premium diesel. Using an integrated system approach, operation without external heat input was demonstrated. The overall analysis showed slight but non-continuous performance loss for 250 h operation time.