A low-temperature partial-oxidation-methanol micro reformer with high fuel conversion rate and hydrogen production yield

Hsueh-Sheng Wang, Kuo-Yang Huang, Yuh-Jeen Huang, Yu-Chuan Su and Fan-Gang Tseng

Applied Energy, 2015, vol. 138, issue C, 30 pages

Abstract: A partial oxidation methanol micro reformer (POM-μReformer) with finger-shaped channels for low operating temperature and high conversing efficiency is proposed in this study. The micro reformer employs POM reaction for low temperature operation (less than 200°C), exothermic reaction, and quick start-up, as well as air feeding capability; and the finger type reaction chambers for increasing catalyst loading as well as reaction area for performance enhancement. In this study, centrifugal technique was introduced to assist on the catalyst loading with high amount and uniform distribution. The solid content (S), binder’s ratio (B), and channel design (the ratio between channel’s length and width, R) were investigated in detail to optimize the design parameters. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), gas chromatography (GC), and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) were employed to analyze the performance of the POM-μReformer. The result depicted that the catalyst content and reactive area could be much improved at the optimized condition, and the conversion rate and hydrogen selectivity approached 97.9% and 97.4%, respectively, at a very low operating temperature of 180°C with scarce or no binder in catalyst. The POM-μReformer can supply hydrogen to fuel cells by generating 2.23J/min for 80% H2 utilization and 60% fuel cell efficiency at 2ml/min of supplied reactant gas, including methanol, oxygen and argon at a mixing ratio of 12.2%, 6.1% and 81.7%, respectively.

Keywords: Hydrogen production; Centrifugal catalyst coating; Micro POM methanol reformer; Micro fluidics; Low temperature reforming (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261914010745
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:138:y:2015:i:c:p:21-30

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.10.033

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().