Patent ID: 6730138
Filing Date: 2004-05-04
Classification: C01B,C10L,H01M,Y02E

Abstract:
In a fuel cell system comprising a reformer to produce a hydrogen containing gas for use in a fuel cell stack, the improvement comprising:feeding to the reformer, at start-up, an emulsion composition comprising at least 40 wt % of hydrocarbon, from 30 to 60 wt % of water, and from 0.01 to 5 wt % of at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of alkyl polyglycerol mono ester and alkyl polyglycerol diester and mixtures thereof and represented by the respective formulae Râ€”COâ€”Oâ€”CH2â€”CHOHâ€”CHOHâ€”(CHOHâ€”CHOHâ€”CHOH)nâ€”CHOHâ€”CHOHâ€”CH2OH andRâ€”COâ€”Oâ€”CH2â€”CHOHâ€”CHOHâ€”(CHOHâ€”CHOHâ€”CHOH)nâ€”CHOHâ€”CHOHâ€”CH2â€”Oâ€”COâ€”R wherein R is an alkyl group of 2 to 26 carbon atoms and n is an integer from about 0 to 15 and mixtures thereof.