Micro‐Structured Methane Steam Reformer with Integrated Catalytic Combustor

Abstract

Experimental results of tests using a micro‐structured steam reformer for hydrogen generation from methane in fuel cell systems are reported. A distinctive feature of this work is the integration of a catalytic combustor into the reactor to deliver the necessary heat to the endothermic steam reforming reaction. The tests are performed under static and dynamic load conditions. The reactor is operated autonomously without external heat supply. The best results are obtained by firing the integrated combustor with a mixture of hydrogen and methane in co‐flow with the reforming reaction. Providing carbon dioxide to the combustor feed in order to simulate the situation of anode off‐gas firing has only minor effects on system performance. Under static load conditions up to 2 / min–1 of hydrogen are produced at high methane conversion rates of about 70%. Start‐up tests show that a stable product composition is obtained in less than 20 s after admission of methane to the reformer. Furthermore, the product composition shows only minor variations with throughput and load changes if heating adjustments are done simultaneously. Overall, the reactor proves to be very suitable for operation in fuel cell systems.

Development of a Micro‐Structured Methanol Fuel Processor Coupled to a High‐Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

“…Few systems of the smallest scale with a few watts of power output have been presented in the open literature [12][13][14][15]. More advanced concepts have dealt with an external heating by heat carrier oil [16], more frequently with coupling of steam reforming and anode combustion. This had been realised with meso-structured plate heat exchangers [17], in most cases rather with micro-structured plate heat exchangers [18,19].…”

Ni Catalyst Coating on Fecralloy® Microchanneled Foils and Testing for Methane Steam Reforming

“…GC analyses were taken every 28 min. The level of methane conversion was calculated from the concentration of methane, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide in the product gas by using the carbon balance [30]: [4,3] values (the mean diameter of the equivalent volume) extracted from the particle size distribution graphs. The table also shows the obtained coating densities from the slurries according to the procedure described in Section 2.4.…”

Microstructured Components for Hydrogen Production from Various Hydrocarbons

“…Starting from first demonstrators with a small methane flow rate [2], the catalyst-coated reformer has been scaled up to an output of the fuel cell system of 500 W el already [3] (see Fig. 1 …”

“…Within the framework of the BMBF project ªH 2 Generation in Microsystemsº, feasibility of a microreactor driven by heat exchange with oil (the heat was supplied by catalytic combustion of methanol again) was proven [6].…”