The design, development, and implementation of a novel autothermal reactor concept for
decentral hydrogen generation by steam reforming of methanol was achieved by employing a
systematic simultaneous design procedure. To overcome practical heat-transfer limitations, the
reformer concept was designed following the operating principles of a plate heat exchanger.
The design procedure considered numerical simulations and experimental verification, as well
as simultaneous study of the mechanical stability of the reactor under realistic thermal and
mechanical loads. The major optimization criteria for developing the reformer concept were
maximum methanol conversion and minimum CO production. This design sequence allowed
the development and final construction of a reformer prototype capable of producing hydrogen
with an equivalent thermal output of 10 kWth that integrates feed evaporation/overheating, steam
reforming, and the water−gas shift reaction in a single apparatus.