Small PEMFC System with Multi-layered Microreactor

Abstract

A small proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system with a multi-layered microreactor for methanol steam-reforming was prototyped as a power source for mobile electric applications. The multi-layered microreactor was designed using a computational simulation. It consists of four units: a methanol reformer with a catalytic combustor, a CO remover, and two vaporizers. The catalytic combustor for supplying reaction heat of reaction to other units was located on the top of microreactor. The microreactor was operated in a vacuum package to improve the system efficiency, and the suitable temperature distribution for the methanol steam-reforming was reached by supplying heat from the catalytic combustor. The small PEMFC has two humidifiers, which were composed of hollow fibers and a water holder. This system generated an output of approximately 2.5 W at 200 mA/cm2.

A miniaturized methanol reformer with Si-based microreactor for a small PEMFC

“…11(b) shows the observed CO concentrations in the reformed gases without liquid components. The CO concentrations of less than 1% detected under all experimental conditions are sufficiently low for a subsequent preferential oxidation of CO (PROX) process in a miniaturized PEMFC system, which has already been prototyped primitively in our correlative work (Ogura et al, 2002). The high-performance Cu/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 catalyst produced slightly greater levels of carbon monoxide than the commercial catalyst.…”