energy depot concept - energy depot fuel production and utilization

8/9/2019 Energy Depot Concept - Energy Depot Fuel Production and Utilization

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Presented atInternational Automotive Congress

January 1]-].'), D6!)Published by:SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGiNEERS, INC.

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650051,

Energy Depot Fuel Production:and.Utilization

P. G. GrimesResearch Oiv .. Allis;Chalmers Mfg. Co.

MODERN FIELD ARMIES today face an increasing fuel logis'tics p rob lem. The major por ti on of t he supplies brought toa theater . of -operations is fuel for vehicles, electric powergeneration. and heating. All studies poim to an even greaterincrease in fuel'consumption in the future.

Use of nuclear energy in the field is a potential solutionto this pro,blem. However. l imitat ions of size and weightimposed oy' ptesent nuclear technology prohibit t he use ofvehicles indiVidually powered with nuclear energy. Therefore.the nuclear energy must be converted to energy forms,that can be used to power individual vehicles.

In this concept, energy output of a mobile nuclear reactor would be processed to storable energy forms readilytransportable to the energy consumers . This energy depotwould be mobile and could accompany the fie ld army init s opera tion , The concept would a llow an extended operation


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P. G. G;RlMES

v'ert the nu t lear energy to chemical f i i ~ l s . These fuels Gan in th e energy depot concept. Considerations of physical, . be s to red. their energy transported in .


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. Other studies have shown the feasibility of mobile nuclear~ reactor electrk power plants. For this analysis. a system~ a b l e of producing 3000 kw of electrical energy was as

sumM,F ~ purp">oses of this study. the c o n c ~ p t u a l d ~ g n s werepriected to the late 1960's state- 9l : the-art representingprototype energy d'epots and "ehielt,s as designed after com

pletion of an extensive development program. However.the selected conceptual designs are based upon firm engineering principles.

Much of the dat a used to deve'lop these conceptual designs was made available to t h project f rom the companyand governmertt sponsored research in our Research Laboratory. The elect rolysis system ' '' as developed exclusivelyfrom company spon'sored research. The fuel cell systems. . . described ",ere developed through our o"'n programs andcontracts sponsored by NAS A, t he Air Force. and the Army.LIQUID HYDROGEN FUEL PRODUCTION

,.

FACILIT,Y DESCRIPTION - An artist concept of a li qu idhydrogen energy depot 'is"shown in Fig. 1. It consists of fourmodules. exclusive of the reactor system. 'During QBerationthe electrolysis module -- containjng the ",ater purification plant. the water electrolysis plant. and rec li fi er s - - islocated adjacent to the nuclear powerplant. This arrange-

k .? ,> ,. P. 9. GRlMES~ r ment 1I01.,.s the water ; u r i f i c l l t i ~ n ' plant to use the wastetherm I energy f rom the turbine exhaust (Fig. 2),' However,the greater significance of this arrangement is that it requires only a short length of eiectrical cable to ~ o n n e c t theturbine alternator to the electrolysis plant. Since this plantutilizes about 80"/0 of the electrical power, a significant reduction in'the weight of electrical cabletoeeded by theenergy dlipot is a l 1 ~ e d , This electrolysis module also con'tains thE;' circuit bmakers for the total plant. R'aw 'watersupplied to ~ h p.!lrification plant 'on the e lec t ro lys i .u le /by a pump located' outside the reactor exclusio., radius. A \small high pressure hose is used to ttanspon the gaseoushydrogen from the electrolysis plant to the liquefactionplant, .

The ~ y d r o g e n ' l i q U e f a c t i o n ~ a n t is contained on twomodules located adjacent to ea other outside the exclu-sion radius. All C O l d " e q U i p m e n t ~ i n . ; ' t w o insulated cold 'boxes on the hydrogen l ique fi er cold equipmem module.This module also contains the expaSlders for r'he hydrogenrtcycle a\ld nitrogen refrigeration loop. The two majorcompressors, the hydrogen recycle and nitrogen recyclecompressor, are mounted on the hydrogen liquefier compressor-fl'lodule,

The control module .. containing the centralized controlpanel for the overall energy depot. is adjacent to the twol iquefaction plant modules . Space is provided on this mod-

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DUCTION AND UTILIZATION/

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u le for depot maintenance operations,supplies. and for carrying the cables and hose during transit.

PROCESS DESCRIPtION - The process system flowdiagram for t he li quid hydrogen en'ergy' depot shown infig. 3. can be des cribed in te rms o f the wate r PJijfication plant,' elect rolysis plant , and hydrogen l iquefact ionplant. ", .Watet Purific3tion - A wflter purification plant is requiredI , .to make the raw water sui table for \!.se in the e l e ~ o l y s i splant. Contaminants in t he water would remain in the electrolysis cel ls. The raw water (+- 6 gpm) is heated in an at mospheric pressure boiler by the exhaust gas o f the reactorgas turbine. One half'to one third of the raw water is evaporated, and the r emai nder ,continually drained fromthe boi le r to reduce s ca le forma tion on the heat-transfersurfaces.

ElectrolysisPIant - In this ' study i t was found desirableto operate the electrolysis celli above the pressures requiredf?r the feed stream of the hydrogen liquefaction plant. This

e ~ i m i ; ; a t e d the need for feed compressors for that ~ y s t e mwhich resul ted in a weight saving for the lotal fuel production plant. In addit ion, operation of the electrolysis plantat high pressure eliminates the inefficierrciesof the mechan-ical and cycle losses of t l l e " h y d [ ( ~ g e n fe-ed 'compressor and ",increases the product ourput. The theore'ical increase inpower. 1.a6 kw ~ / lb Hir required f eri\ting t!).e elec-trolysis cells at 1840 psia, over at required for cells opera ting a t ~ t m o s p h e r i c pressur w


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P. G. GRIMESf luids to the centrally located 'gas-electrolyte collection andse'paration e g u i p m ~ n t , serving al l four circuits. Remotelyoperable valves-provide for isolation of any of - the fourindependent circuits. Pressure throughout the ~ is regul ated by an arrangement of control valves at the outlets o the electrolysis plant. '

Individual electrolysiS cells' are of th e series bipol....d'esign. Major component s of each' celfcbrtsist 'of a hydrogen electrode, an oxygen electrode. matrix am:! electrolyte and an eleetrode holder or bipolar _plat. Electrolyte is circulated through the cells to prOVide makeup water, remove 'gas, and con trol temperature.

Fig. 6 illustrates electrolysis cell VOltage characteristicsobtained by Allis-Chalmers \ ~ i t h cells utilizing fuel cellbipolar plate construction, Extrapolation of toda{s stateof-the-art indicates that electrolysis cel ls can most probablybe. developed that operate at 1.535 v per cell and 400.. Z ' : . ~ ,amp / ft current density at atmospheric pressure. (This i equivalent to a power r equir ement o f .+8.5 f


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ENERGY DEPOT FUEL PRODUCTION AND UTll..lZ.ATION 287

posed design is based on the use of porous sintered metaf designed to take the pressure differential between the cellelectrodes. C a t a l y s t ~ are. deposited on the electrodes t ~ operating pressure and the atmosphere. -Bellows pressurizein the decomposit ion of water by lowering electrode p o t ~ the inside of the vessel (outside of the electrolysis cells) totial.

In order to mlmmlze internal resistance, the


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P. G. GRIMES

compressors. heat exchangers; expansion vahes and engines.adsorbers. piping. and other standard types of process equi'Pment. A transportable hydrogen liquefier cou ld be built withpresent technology. but such a system would not mee t t heenergy depot criteria. Commercial compressors. expanders.and heat exchangers Ivould impose severe limitations on thecharacreristics of the plant. It is p r o j ~ c t e d that lightweight.nonhydwcarbon lubricated double adlng. reciprocating compressors operating at 850-1600 ft/min and 4000 rpm with anefficiency of 75% ca n b e used. Advanced des ign. nonbydrocarbon l u b r i ~ a t e d , expanders wi'th efficiencies of 90"!0 wouldbe used. These ~ l t ' p a n d e r s .l'iould be operated at h.alf speedduring start up. Advanced concept h igh surface area !leat e x c h a n g e ~ . , v i l l be incorporated in the liquefaction plant.design. Anticipated pmver requirements for liquefying thehigh p r e ~ u r e 'stream of h y ? r o ~ e n ' a r ~ 4.6 kw hr lI b liquid H2This liquid hydrogen fuel depot is expected to produce114 Ib of liquid hydrogen ger hour f rom an electrical inplitof 3000 kw plus some thermal e n e ~ y recovered from thereactor turbine exhaust heat . Character is t ics o f t he l iqu idhydrogen fuel production plant are given in Table 1.LIQUID A ~ ...l0NIA FUEL PRODUCTION

for the resultant gains in the process. Operatfon of the elec'trolysis process at the 2000 psi delivery press\lre requires apr


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fore. It is ~ s t i { T I a t e d th'\t-an ~ n e r g y input ofO.12 kw hrJlbNH 3 will Ife needed for the arumoni.a s y n ~ h e s i . s plant. ..... nle ' ~ ~ m ~ r i i i 1 - f u e l d e p ~ t i ~ expe


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.,P. G. GRIMES

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, .ENERGY DEPOT FUEL UTILIZAnON

,5'1Transfer efficiency'. % .CapaCity of 8-ton GOER.

ga lD ~ o t production hours..to f il l. hrS t ~ r a g e temperature offluid. F

S { p ~ a g e pressure (normal)of f luid. psia

Method of delivery from, GO{RMeth6d of delivery fromuser v e h i c l ~ tank

-j> 0' ;.a large reinforced plastic ammonia storage essel mountedon an 8 ton GOER. al1d a smaller vessel moullted on the u ~ e rvehicle. Soth v ~ s s e l s s t ( J ~ e the: liquilt 'lmmonia umtb. ~ r e s -'sure a.t ambient temperature. A small ~ u m p is pr.ovide9 !Orriove ~ h e . l i q u i d ammonia from 'the prit:nary v e s s ~ t o .the '.user .vehicle through a fleXible hose. "The v e s ~ e W a r e notv e n ~ e d except during emergency c o n d i t J o n s . g t ~ q u s e . i t is .u n n ~ c e s s a r y to vent gas in any onhe filling o t t t ~ ! l s f e r dpelC'ations. the efficiency of,.ammonia lriinsCer.1s expected to. 'Be .nearly J 000/0. The system alsO' has tHe. adVailtage that' the: .ammonia may"be, stored indefinitely in the pressur ized tat'lks.,,,ithout loss.. The c h a r a e t c : r i g t i c ~ ; O f fuel stWAge and distr,i.bution units are g i ~ e n in. Table 2.

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An integral part: oftHe energy depo't ,concept is the: utili.-ial' nergy depot fuels. The efficienex IJf fuel utiliza-tion' reflect uRon the s ize and n u ~ b e r of eneigy depotsneedec;l to support particu'Jar units . IdeallY, the most e,(fi-., . -cient powerplants should. be use.d. . ' "Hydrogen and ammonia have been used l power internal

combust ion e R g i n ~ s ( 7 ~ 1 0 ) : H o ~ " e v e r . present vehicle powerpl\nts , ,,ould requlre modjfica.tioll to use these fuels. Thefuel utilization effici:i1cy. c o ~ l d approath tha t of g a s o l i n e ~ ', ~ \Hydrogen and the hydrogen carrier) ammonia,' are ~ i d e a lfuels fcrt fuel calls and high ftIel.effIciencies can tie abct'!!'ined . . Theoretically. e"1ectrical power equivalent to thefree energy of the tuel o'lG:1I ..""" .. 6 . . ,depot for reliquefaction. Discharge of the ljl[uid hydrogen _ ~ . . Table 2 ChatactM,tics of the Fuel Storageto the user vehicle is effected by vaporizing a small amount and Distributio.n Unit ". .,..,. ,of hydrogen in a pressure-'raising coil (external radiator)and r e t u r r ~ i n g it to the storage vessel" This raises 'the in- : ~ .. 'temal vessel pressure and forces liquid hydrogen through the -aW' Characteristictransfer system.Because liquid hydrogen can only be stored under cryo

genic temperature and because there will b


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ENERGY DEPOT FUEL PROj)UCTlON AND UTILIZATIONI,; .

FUEL CELL A S S E M ~ L , I E S

developed ~ a y d i f f e r from those projE:cted, but it is e x p ~ t e ~ .tha,t ' 'lith reasonable rcse

w of power, This as sembly can produce ISO kw (net)'in a 15 minute overioad condition. '

Hydrogen/air fuel cell assembly designs were projectedto be'achievable in the late 1960's. on the basis of performat)ce char\c'teristj'Cs. available in 1963. A C l U ~ 1 assemblies

.ation, and design nexibility are obtainable with fuel cellpowerpl 'lnts and pOint toward a greater usage of fuef' cellsin f u t u r ~ vehic le s. and a re a prime application in the e n ~ r g ydepot systems. . .

Future fuel cell powered m,i}itary' vehicle ' ' I l l require;a new design. Present des igns wi ll probabljl not be rer rofi tteel. However, in order to eSt'ablish tlie feasiJ:>ility of the

. application of fuel cell power to mrftary v ~ h i c l e s . an ar mored personnel carrier (APC) based upon the M113 was .selected for s tudy : Two fuel cellpm'lered vehicle drive systems ~ e r e i n v ~ ' s t i g a t e d for this v ~ h i c l e : hydrogen/air andd i s s ~ c i a t e d ammonia/air.-- For ~ m p a r i s o n , the use of hy drogen, ammonia, and gasol ine' in the Af'C' was also investigated,

"The hydrogen/oxygen system for vehicles was analyzedand found to be vf7:JY similar to the hydrogen! air system.

Fig. 9 - ~ r o j e c t e d performance C:urves for hy'drogen/air fuelcells '

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'a to . 758 was used.~ Process' Equipment - Arrangement of the fue l cell p'rocess

' ~ q u i ~ m N l t is shO\>'n in Fig. 10. The fuel cells a r e ~ r r a n g e dIn modules consisting. of 91 cells each. Sixteen modules~ a k e up the vehicle drive uni t and a r connected by common manifolds to the cooling c ircUIt ; she hydrogen and oxid:Jnt ~ u p p l i e s . and the moisture removal condenser.

About 7Cf'/o of the w.ater is removed through t he s ta ti cmoisture control system on the hydrogen side of the cell.The r ~ . a i n i n g 300/. o f t he moisture is removed Ivi th the ex haust air. M o i s t u r e r e m o ~ l , cavit ies of al l cellS ate con::

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ENE'RGY DEPOT FUEL PRODUCTION A ; ~ D UTILIl.ATJON 291

-lncludes 16 modules plus auxiliary equipment consisting of radiator. filter: air compressor. condenser. vacuumfan. circulating pump, water pl11lJp. plumbing and ductingcontrols, f luids. and air purif ier.

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Tahle 4. - Hydrogen' Air Fuel-Cell AssemblyOperating Characteristics" -ontinuous

-Includes power fo compressor,. .cooling fan. vacuumfan, circulating pump. water pump. and electrical control.

Gross power. kwAUXiliary power, kw - Net power. kwAssembly voltage (parallel). vAssembly voltage (series), vAssembly amperage(p'arallel). amp

Assemblyamperape(series). amp

Module power. kwModqle VOltage. vModule amperage. af(lpCell power, kwCell voltage. v .Cel l amperage. amp. . 2Cell current density. amp/ft .Operating temperature. FAssembly weight/net.power

ratio I b / \w 'As:mbly volume/net power3 .ratio ft /kwFuel consumption, lb H2 /net 'kwhrF'uel consumpti0n, Ib H /h r. 2Purified air requirements., Ib air/hr

Air purification chemicalsIb/hr

AMMONIA DISSOCIATORAn ammonia dissociator was conceptually designed to

produce up to 20 ~ . o f usable hydrogen per hOUt for t lle fuel ;1...

The dissociated ammonia-ai1 cell is not expected toreach the performance of [he hydrogen/ ai r cell because oft he e ff ec t of nitrogen dilution on the hydrogen electrode.

The curve in Fig. 11 sh0lts the performance estimatedfor this fuel cell projected to lated960s. This projectionassumes considerable development on both the fuel cell andthe ammonia dissociator to minimtze the amount of andeffects of nondissociated ammonia. Rated current uensity- 2 .was selected at 225 amp/ft at 0.825 ,v p ~ c ~ l l . Ovetload2 .was selected at 300 amplft at 0.758 v pex cell.

1010.82716316Q45.9

Size and Weight

. Ie. Fuel {:ell Assembly,,.M ajor -Design

Table 3 -

Module weight. Ib Module volume. ft3Number of modulesAssembly weight. Ip

3Assembly volume, ft -

DISSOCIATED AMMONIA/ AIR FUEL CELL ASSEMBLYA gross power output of 160 kw in contim,.Ious service wasselec ted as the total power output of the fuel cells for thedissociated. ammonia fuel cell assembly study.' This.fuelcell assembly has a .net power Output of 147 kw in continu'ous service and 179 kw (net) in the 15 minute overload cond it io n. The fuel cell'assembly Studied is 40/0 more powerfulthan requi red by the APC.The dissociated ammonia fuel cell assembly d.iffen fromthe hydrogen/air assembly in two major respects. The hy- d ~ o g e n . fuel is qiluted W i t l 1 t ~ o g ~ n ~ n a modification of

the mOisture removal gf IS req1ltred . -.. 1

perature of 180 F. Heat is dissipated' both through moistureremoval from the cells and tllJOugh a cs>oling circuit. Anelectrically nonconductive. cooling liquid is ~ c u l a t - e dthrough the electrode holders in each fuel cell and the hotliquid is routed through a c! 'mmon header to the cooLantradiator. The cooled l iquid then goes to {he sump tank anda circulating pump forces i t through the moisture removalcondenser 'and into the fuel cell modules to make a complete circuil.

The fuel cells are a rranged in modules of 91 cells to give" a module veltage of 75 v at the cont inuou s l oad desi gn"'.point. Electrode area was selected to produce 10 kw of

powci per module. Current through each module is there'fore 133 amp. Under overload conditions each module produces 178 amp at 69 v (12.3 kw).

Th e modules are arranged in four groups of four moduleseach. Each group of modules is connected in se rie s to produce 300 v. The groups of modules are arrangeu so thatmodules 1-4 are in parallel with modules 5-8; modules 9,12 are parallel wim medules 13-16. Switches enable thosetwo parallel groups ro provide an output VOltage of 600 Vand 266 amp when in ser ie s, o r 300 v and 532 amp when inparallel.

The major design and operating characteristics for thehydrogen/ air fuel cell assembly are summarized in -Tables3 and 4.

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P. G. GRIMES

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Electrical ar-rangements for the dissociated ~ m m o n i a L air

exhaust

Theoretically. 113.3 lb/hr of dissociated ammonia isnecessary to supply the fuel cell with 20 Ib/hr of hydrogen.To make the process self-sustaining, about 6.5 lb/hr of hydrogen are burned in the reactor to supply the energy for thed i s s 6 c i a t i ~ n process . Included in this f igure are possible radiation.diffusi:T ~ " M _ r : > / ~ T '

200

- Projected p e T f o r m ~ n c e curves for diss dated am-,I S

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cell assembly. For t ris case. the ammonia dissociator produces 26.5 Ib/hr of hydrogen in the form of 3:1 hydrogennit rogen mixture. This mixture is'produced by catalyticthermal dissociation of ammonia at i700 F and 50 psig pressure. Equipment required was eSI' imated to weigh about 1025

3lb and occupy about 12.5 ft A schematiC .rep;esentationof the unit appears in Fig. 12. ft

mania, air fuel cellsFig. 11

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16/31

ENERGY DEPOT FUEL PRODUCTION AND CTlLIl.A TION 29.)fuel cells are i d ~ n t ' l c a i " t o that for the hydrogen/ ailr cells.This s y s t e m ' ~ auxiliaries consume about 1 kw more power.'. The major .design and operating characteristics for thedissociated ammonia fuel cell assembly are summariZed inTables 5 and 6,ELECTRlC DRlVE ASSEMBI.Y

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A detailed analysis was made of the electric drive assembly for the M1l3 (5). A d-c type motor was selected

. for the fuel cell powered vehicIe. The advantages of thed-c drive assembly are:

1. It is more efficient s ince fuel cells produce direct

cur ren t and there will be no losses due to conversion to al ternate current.

, . 2. The doc drive assembly e l i m i n a ~ e s the need for a-cconversion equipment with its associated control. .

3. A simple one-step switching of the fuel c'eU!'anksfrom series to parallel operation will change the output fromlow speed, high torque to high speed. low tQrqlle using fullfuel cell output in both ranges.

4. -The short r i ~ e overload capabijIty of the d c motoris greatly superior to a 'c motor.

5. Its abil-i.ty to ;"eaken ilS f ie ld and del iver constanthorsepo\"er.with constant voltage and amperage input overa wide speed range (trading torque for speed) closely niatchnorrnal traction requirements.

5ECONDARYAMMONIA5TORAGEl-- AIRPURIFIERAMMONIADI5S0CIATOR..,I,III UNIT IL - l

PURIFIEDAIRAIR

COMPRESSOR

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CELL5

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MECHANICALPOWER

VEHICLEDIFFERENTIAL Fig. 13 Dissociated ammonia/air fuel cell vehicle drive

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17/31

P. G. GRIMES

Table 5 - Dissociated Ammonia Fuel-Cell !Assembl y.Major Design

-Includes 16 modules plus auxiliary equipmenr consisting of radiatot. f i lt er. a ir compressor . c o n ~ e n s c r . \"acuul11fao. circlliatingpump. water pump.,plumbing and ducting.controls. fluids, air purifier. and ammonia d ~ s o c i a t o r .

Number of cells per moduleModule \ ~ e i g h t . IbModule volume. ft 3Number of modules.-\ssembly


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E ! ~ E R G Y DEPOT FUEL PRODUCTION AND CTILIZATlON

Table 9 - Summary of Weight-To-Horsepower and'Volume-To'Horsepowe'r Ratios for the APCPowered By an Internal Combustion Engine

Gasoline .Hydrogen Ammonia ----3 3 Ib/hr 3C ~ m p o n e n t Ib/hr ft Ih p Ib/hr ft Ihp f{ I hpEngine andauxiliaries 11.6 0.319 12.8 0.351 12.8 0.351

Fuel Uni t 3.3 0.069 2.9 0.601 7.3. 0.264'rotal 14.9 0.388 15.7 0.958 20.1 0.615

541101 with allowance for Ullage. fill, and interconnectinglines. auxiliaries. and a packaging factor (14).Values g iven in Table 7 were then used to calculate t h

characteristios of the respective armored personnel carriersassuming that these values remain constant over the range,of power needed.'4'he performance of these vehlclesshould

~ e . e c t o a l " f o tlle production M1l3. ; ~ i n c . e the'components aredesigned at apprOXimately the power,required, this is con'sidered,a vali


19/31


20/31

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ENERGY DEPOT fUEL PRODUCTION tU"D UTll.ll.ATlC1N

2. A. B Rosenthal. "Energy Depot Concept "Paper650050. SAE Transactions. Vol :4 (J966\.3: APL-1"DR-64-41 "Research and Development on anA d ~ n c e d Laboratory Liquid Metal Regenerative Fuel Cell l "Allison Div. of General Motors. Contract Report AF '33 (657)11032.

4. K. Mil ler. Chen) . Eng. Prpg. . Vol . 57. (1961).140.5. ACNP 64501 -Energy Depot System Study." Allis

Chalmers Mfg. Co.. February 1964. Contract Report AT (30'1) 3133.

6. D. B. Chelton.]. W. Dean. and]. Macinko. "Methodsof Hydrogen Liquefaction." N. B. S. Repon 5520. Oct . 14.1957.

7. Eo Kroch, -Ammonia. A Fuel for Motor Buses." J.Inst. Petroleum. (July 1945). 213.

8. G. Egloff and M. Alexander. "Petroleum Refiner,"VoL 23, No.6 (1944), 127.

2999, W. Cornelius. SAf.Meeting. Detroit. 1965. .

10, K. O. Lindell. "lnttoducd'on to Nuclear Powered Energy oep'Jt'C'6ncl!pt." sAtMeeting. Detroit. 1965.. 11. f. L. p'latner and P. D. H e s ~ . "Static Moisture Rem.ovill

Concept for Hydrogen-Oxygen Capiyary. Fuel Cell." AllisCh:lmers Mfg. Co.; Researcn DiV,.,.5ME!AIChE Heat Transfer conference. Bo.ston. luly ' 1 1 T 6 . ~ , \ ,

12. ]. L. Platner. D,P. Ghete"/ahd R. \'/. Opperthauser."Capillary .Hydrogen -Oxygen Fuel 'Cell Syst.em for SpaceVehicle Ap'plication." AlEE Meeting, Wi\shington. Augus.!1963.

13. R.]. Lodzinski. "A 5 'K"" Hydrocarbon Air Fuel CellPo,:"er soUrce." AIAA Conference on Aerospace Po\


21/31

w. CORNELIUS, ET AL\f.,,'.

I

316

~ ir::l,D I S C U : . ~Discussion of papers 650050 (p. 2 ~ 4 ) . :650051 (p. 281), and 650052 (p. 300).

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'R . J. fLAN}''ERYAmerican Oil Co:THIS AUTHOR GENERALLY concurs with the remarks '" ithinthe scope of the presentat ion. Several comments should bemade.'The fl rst re la tes to the choice between con.verted - i Iiterna 1-combustion and fuel-cell 'power units for vehicles. Thischoice might be influenced by the attractive posSibility ofa simple conversion ki t allowing use of standard hydrocarbon -fuelM engines . However, this convertabil ity may notbe unique to IC engines in view of other work directed to ward fuel cell v e h l c l ~ s powered by.steam reformed petroleum fuels. Such vehicles would be .readily converted bychanging to ammonia ct'acking. .

'The second relates to scope. \Vhilethe application de tai ied in the paper, vehicles. is one of the most difficul t. ananny r e q u i r ~ s energy for various other p u r p o s e ~ . ranging from

\ .cooking and lighting to commUnications power. Safe ef -ficient burnel'$ for depot fuels will be needed. A variety ofelectric powet supplies of capacity or type not possible to be'prOVided by batteries in the isolated arenawill also be needed.In many o.f these cases, the .projected fuel cell. with suitable power processing auxiliaries, will probably be moreefficient than cor.responding cotwened engine generator sets .The third relates to the direct ammonia fuel cell. Inthe paper, thl i approach was discarded for consideration atthis time because of lagging teChnical advance. Yet thissystem holds a' potential advantage which warrants at leastcontinued attention to its possible development. This ad vantage is high efficiency on idle. The rate of the ammoniacracker cannot be changed rapidly , whereas the fuel consumption of the direct cell readily drops ~ a low level onIdle. Important fuel savings can result. In addition, anambient -temperature. direct ammonia 'cell would not re -

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THIS PAPER)S an important contribution to the literatureon combustion in reciprocating engines as well as a signif-

E. B. RIFKINEthyl Corp.

quire 2rt1o of the a'mmonia's hydrogen to hea t the ammonIaFracker: .

The founh relates to the projection of the fuel cell per-t -formances . The projections presented do not ~ e e m too op-timistic. But, for th,e benefit of those more casually ac quainted with fuel cell s. it should be noted that thecomparison 'iith present s(ate of art should b made' for powerdelisi ties at the required operating efficiency not at themaximum eff ic iency. F ig . A summarizes the power density dat a o f Fig. 9 and 11 of the paper and shows the operating points selected in the design study. The voltage efftdency lines which have been superimposed on the curvesreveal tha1--the desiRli. points ato all in the 60 -7a'7o range.The c 6 r r e s p ~ l I i d i n g poimon the 1963'state-


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AMMONIA AS AN ENGINE FUEL.4

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storage of energy is thl} only practical engineering technique.AU other possible techniques are al l too bUlky, either be-. cause of high shielding requirements or b e c a ~ e of .the largebulk of the energy storage material and system.

The second common conclusion i t llat only 'i j1ater ia ls .avallable on a large scale,. that 15-; . ~ . , . a t e r ilrtd air. canconsidered for production of fuel b e c a u ~ e of, t h large quantities of matIal i nvol ved. The implication here. is thathydrogeas going to be t he bas le mean s for stormg the en\:ergy o r i ~ a l l y obtained. from nuclear or sopie other sta-tionary power source. . .

" The third common c0n


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The energy depot constitutes an extremely attraqlve andlogical application for nuclear power. " This is an exampleof where the demand for long time operation without additional fuel supplies is uniquely sUflllled by a nUclear energysource.

!vir. Rosenthal's p a P e ~ pointed out the weight attractiveness o,f t he energy depot in compari son with the continuedsupply of gasoline fuel. and'the cost studies that have nowDeen initiated. There are, of cOUl'Se, uses .of the nuclearpowered energy depot where il1dependence.from exremaf(Sf s u p p l i ~ S is an " a s s ~ t w h i C h c ~ n l ' l o t be measute.d ~ dol lars , forf instance, the holding of a key spot which wQliltl. otherwisebe lost. Nevertheless, it is of some interest to note, t ~ ' a talthough the cost of uranium fuel and its assoc ia ted plantare generally considered to be "high under military circums tances , the cost of delIVered gasoline can also be surprlsingly high.A simplif ied analysis of several special wartime situa

tions shows that the predominant cost of supplying a majordefense position is oft!n that of the replacement value ofaircraft al;d ships los t in bringing in the supplies. On this,basis, considering such instances as Tobruk and Malta inWorld War n (for which the necessary statistics are describedby.\V1nston.Churchi,V in his books), delivered gasoline isfound t? cost $50-$80/ga1. In different c i r c u m s t a ~ c e s ,then, gasoline may range in value from the $.30 or so, pergal: available at the local filling s tation up to numbers hundre"d.;. of times as great under front line fighting conditions,

E J. GAYConsUlting EngineerTHE MOBILE ENERGY depot modules p r e s e n t " ~ e v e p l l Q g l , ~ ~ k a lproblems, which I tOink,might 'be illustrated by Figs.' B-N,

B, This is China on the old Burma -China Roa'd betweenKunming and Chungking, T h i s ~ I 1 3 f the road is calledthe "Ladder. It has no guard rai ls and steep grades, witha 1/ 4 in of slime. When raining the Goer jus t wouldn' r go!Only a 6 x 6 or , x 8 'would do t he j ob . "

C, This is another vi ew of the old ~ u r m a . C h i n a Road '. 'D, The photograph shows typical te'rrain between E:hina"'"

a n .northeast India, We flew petroleum products over thisarea 'until the pipelines were built.

, E. Tllis is up front on ~ h Ledo Road near Myitkyina; you"needed, snowshoes here. .. .. F The Ledo Road where a temporary wooden bridge witha load l imit o f 4 to 5.tons and a 4 in . pipeline on each sidewas built,

G, Two of the 4 in, pipelines - .jhead of the finishedroad, Tl'iese 4 in , coupled pipeline.s handled 1500 ga,lihr/line. We shipped aViation gas - motot gasoline and dieselfuel via these li ne s. The re was a pumping station every 8. mil.es. One of these lines could refuel seven of the old M-4tanks/hr .H. A por tion of theLedo R.oad that was near completionan.d included a B a i l ~ y bridge and mules!

w. CORNELIUS, ET AL1. The picture shows a finished' portion of the Ledo Road.

Grades in this area were as higI1 as 14 to 111'/0, There was'one short stretch at 2ffJ/o.J, This Is a Korean river with ,a bridge out. ,.,', K, Korea - just back of the combat lirte, "This dirt roadwith up to 12"/0 g r ~ d e s was th e only line of communication,A pipeline came within 15 mi1es) f this rpad, 'L. Typical Korean terrain.": ' .,0., , ~

M, This photograph was taken in Korea and shows fuelstorage for' thetem s t o v e ~ , Kerosene wJs used. What dowe d.o when we use ammonia? ,-

N. Here are 6 in . pipelines and a pumping station inKorea . These 6 in . l ines with a pumping station every.I6.tilmiles would handle 3300 gal/hr, Tbey would refuel 10 'new M-60 tanks per hour, The newer welded 6 in. and8 in . pipelines operating at higher p r e s s u r e ~ will handle sev-eral times as much fuel .

There is every reason to be1.leve that South Viemam (andthe terri tories north and west of South Viemam) has equallydiffiCUlt terrain. Certainly, my recent visit ,to Thailandwould confirm this. ' ..

The problems I visualize can be summarized"by the fol"loWing comments: .Apparently, these Mobile Energy Depot modules weigh

about 30,000 lb and a complete unit about 100,000 lb . I t,takes a plane near ly the si ze of the 707 to ca rr y 3D, 000pounds. There are not many military a ir strips [n the area

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Fig, B. - Burma -China road

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AMMONIA AS AN ENGINE fUEL

where we might engage in combat that wil l take the 707.A 16-ton Goer weighing 39,000 Ib without a payload will

be needed to carry the 30, 000 Ib modules . The 8-ton Goer'suggested for transporting the hydrogen or ammonia weighs28,200 Ib without a payload. These two vehicles wil l alsoneed aircraft of large payload capacity..

In wartime, energy is needed for many things besides mov-ing vehicles. Cooking and s.pace heating are two majorJtems. FifT4' per cen t of the fuel sypply for Korea, duringt ~ winter months, was for space heiting,

At no time dUring World War n or the Korean War wasthere an acute shortage of fuel. There were some close callshowever I - The.re was fuel in Sicily before there was food.General Paton r


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W, CORNEUUS. ET AL

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Fig. F - Ledo'road showing 4 in pipelines

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fig. G - 4 in , pipelines

fig, H - Ledo road under 'construc tion


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AMMONIA AS AN ENGINE F'UEL

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F ig . I . Fi ni sh ed port ion o f t he Ledo r o ~ d

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F ig . ] Korean r iv er." Fig. L TYPlca"\orean terrain

Fig. K Korea ill.st ba ck o f t he combat line


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.J24 . W. CORNELIUS. ET ALthe kickjng around we gOt at Kasserine Pass. \Ve.1 - Korea - fuel storage for the tem stoves

the Anny's perfonnance specifiGatio/lS for vehiclesrequire that -they operate satisfactorily from + 115 F to-25 F without the use of sta rting aids othet than manifold heaters or gli)w plugs. From -z5,F to ..65 F, starting and he; lt ing a ids may be used.' Fuel temperatures of+ 145 F have been measured in the desert. There is nor e a s ~ n . to believe that the storage vessels (or Ilydrogenand/or ammonia would not be exposed to the u.me temperatures.

Our M-60 tank is capable of a 24 hr battlefield day withOUI refueling. Newer concepts talk'of a 36-hr battlefieldday. To achieve this with al11monia. would require 2. 8t imes dle volume of fuel. which would make an impossibles ized tank; or would reduce the battlefield day by the sameamount, for example, from 24 he t6 8.6 hr.

For many years, our top military command has failed torecognize tile need for maximum effort in studying the protection .0Cour sup lines by sea in time of war . Preoccu pation with the issile may have been the c ause . I amglad to note f m receit published data that antisubmarinewarfare pIa 109 is now being emphaslzed I

Fig. N - Korea - 6 in . pipel ines and a pumping station


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AUTHORS' CLOSURE T.O DISCUSSION'.by L. W', H U E L ~ \ A A N T E L , AND H. R. MITCHELLTHE AUTHORS W ~ to express their appreciation for thecomplimentary ana constructive temarks regarding the paperby theseveraldiscussors. The prepared discusSions have aidedin clarifying cenain imponam aspects of the energy depot.. ' ..concept.With regard to Dr 0 Rifkirr's cOn')ments, we agr ee that i twould be worthwhile t9 inves tigate the use of fuel addit ivesother than hydrogen to promote the combusllon of ammonia' ,In our investigation. we used only hydrogen to conform withthe initial ground rules that al1 fuel constituents be producl!dfrom readily available materials. I t might prove to be more' feas ible to use an ammonia-soluble metal compound as sug-

THE DIsCUSSION OF Dr. R. Flannery raises several signifi.cant point s. Some of these are yovercd in greate.r detail inMr, Rosenthal 's paper (p. 274).' The majoruseoffuelinthe Army isin vehicll!s;thismore

d i f f i ~ J . I 1 t ' c ~ 5 e was treated fU$J. Energy depot hi'els can beused in modified space- heaters and to power t l equivalentof m o t o r g ~ n e r a t o r S ~ t s 0 Direct consumption of ammonia in a fuel ce:ll\fould be

a'mOre. ideal solution if adequate performance could be' ob~ a i n e d . Rand D should be directed toward this end. Morerecen.t s t u ~ i e s ha,ve indicated that 25 f W V J . ~.... r . ) U r n ' . ~ ' .on i .t ~ dlssoclator may be a conservatwe e J 1 f J l ~ ~ Q r . IItl-llzatlon. '. ' : \ . , .", I . . . The, stare of the an of fuel cel ls has adVanced rapid ly ,Fuer eel) people today talk of the p O S S i b i ~ of bUilding fuelcell modules w i t h i ~ I i factor of 2 of the p , r o j ~ c t e - d fuel cellmodules .

The air pllification chemiCal requirements''Were prQ.iected' ~ maximl;lm theoretical requirements to ;femove all ofthe acidic gases from three t imes the a ir requi rement s of thecell. Continued experimental stuc!ies hpye indicated thatmarked reductions can be made and air purification chemica ls would be a small r e q u i r e m ~ n t iIi tlte . f u t . ' / ~ e , .

AMMONIA AS AN ENGINE FUELLT. COL, KERMIT O. LINDELLUnited Stat,es Army

about the bas ic problem, le t me illustrate i t in 11 differentmanner. You have, on one band. 'the tremendous energy density available in a nuclear reactor; and. dn the otherhand,

.AS A RESULT of the discussions presented, I would like to . a l a ~ , growing requirement for energy 'to operate vehicles,ampltfy and perhaps clarify a few of the points presenteddiu- a ircraf t and other equipment. How do you convert t 1 ~ e en ing the session. First of al1. the cost - effectiveness of the ergy of the reactor in to a for,m which wil l be usable as.fuelconcept has not been evaluated. The Stanford Research In- by vehicles and aircraft? If. at the same time, you can elistitute has just recently heenawarded a gbVemment cont ract m inat e t h e . ~ e q u i r e m e n t for an extensive. 'distrjbution systemto perform an operational analysis of the Nuclear Powered and relatively fixed 'and vUlnerabl,e fuef supply depots, aEnergy Depot concept to inc lude an evaluation of the cost- m a j ~ r mlUtary advantage may accrue. This is.the basiceffectiveness. As the study is just getting underway, even problem and the NUclear Powered Enl'gy Depot yonce 'pt df-a preliminary estimate is' not available at this time. as to fers one possiblem eans of solving t h ~ s p r o o ' l e n 1 . Direct transwhether or not the concept is econ?micany attractive. mission of electrical energy. without wires; offers, perhaps.The cost-effectiveness of a c o n ~ e p t sucl1 as this is ex - another mearls of s o l ~ i n g the 6asfC problem,

tremely difficult to evaluate, With respect to Mr. Gay's \ .remarks concerning the Ledo Road. some 300. planes and, AUTHOR'S CLOSURE TO DISCUSSION,many l ives were lost during World War II del ivering supplie's by W. CORNELIUSover "The Hump" into China. I f a concept may save l ivesand equipment , how do you fac tor this element into a costeffectiveness analysis? Is a life worth ten thousand dqllars,a hundred thousand dol lars , or a million dollars? As a matter of f act, I m ight suggest tha(lf a Nuclear Powered Energy.Depot had been available during World War n, it may nothave been necessary to construct the Ledo Road to provide ....a means of supplying troOps in China: a substitute f d r ~ g ~ l S O l ine, the major item of supply involved, probably ' 2 ~ l d have'been manufactured in China, Th is type of oper ati on , I he -. . ...lieve; is an excel1ent exampleof an actual s , i ~ a t i o n , w h e r ean Energy Depot could have been profitably ~ l l ) p l o Y J d 'Also. it is extremely difficult to forecasr ~ h nature of

future warfare, nuclear warfare , World Wa,r,n .and Koreacan no longer be considered as valid historica1 examples 0The exac.l nature of the condi tions on a nuclear battlefieldilre stil1 a matter of specu la tion , To quote. il) substance,a general officer I heard speak several years ago; "Youprobably won't know what tyJ>l< of tactics you will employ until'you become actively engaged in a nuc lear war 0" It is recognized, however, that the Army must s ~ e k advanced..concepts of supply to supplement or replace the present conceptsof logistical operations 0 Secondly, I would l ike to point out tha t the Energy Depot

concept is not, at this stage in the development, fixed inconcrete 0 I f there is a means of producing, in Quanti ty" amore sui table fuel under the same constraints, we would beextremely interested; for an example, a process for producing methanol.Thirdly, le t me reiterate thar during the evolutionary phaseof development , i t is intended that ammonia be used as asupplement to norm!l petroleum supplies 0 Not al l ulJ1.ts.,would necessarily be eqUipped with vehicles capable oTbuming ammon ia , The capabiliry to use ammonia as well aspetroleum products in vehicles and Army' aircraft would belimited to designated units apd/or special situations suth asairhead operations or deep penetrations. In these particul\lrins tances , i t might l>\': ' e x t r e ~ e l y difficult to fu"pl'ly ~ t r o -leum fuels utilizing present distribution procedures 0In conclusion, to insure that there is no misunderstanding


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energy depot concept - energy depot fuel production and utilization

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