2007 R&D 100 Winner
The Microchannel Gas-Liquid Processing Device produced by Ward TeGrotenhuis, Victoria Stenkamp, and Richard Zheng at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash., advances fuel cell technologies by heating, cooling, removing, and recovering water and distilling poisonous sulfur from diesel fuel for conversion to hydrogen.
This device’s passive operation, compact size, and orientation independence make it a powerful option for a wide range of portable, mobile, and space fuel cell applications. It also increases the fuel cell’s energy efficiency by using the heat produced in the reaction. And it can be scaled to meet almost any productivity objective.
While the primary applications of this device are fuel cell power systems, it can be used in many others. One application being tested by the U.S. Army uses waste heat or fuel liquid to provide cooling for personnel. Conventional equipment is large and cannot operate when tilted, making it unusable for portable cooling on battlefields or for first responders.
Technology
Fuel cell technology process
Developer
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Originally published in R&D Magazine, September, 2007
