Hydrogen production for fuel cell application in an autothermal micro-channel reactor

Results concerning the coupling of the steam reforming and total oxidn. of methanol in a two-passage reactor are presented. A com. available copper-based catalyst is used for the steam reforming. For the total oxidn., a highly active cobalt oxide catalyst was developed. Both catalysts are used in form of thin layers immobilized on the wall of the microchannels. Reactor design and operating conditions are based on kinetic models developed under isothermal conditions in microstructured reactors. For the oxidn. reaction, complete conversion of methanol (>99%) at temps. >250 Deg is obsd. For the steam reforming, the hydrogen and CO2 selectivity is >96% for methanol conversion up to 90%. Besides the steady state, the dynamic behavior of the coupled system is studied. It is shown that the transient behavior is mainly detd. by the thermal inertia of the system. [on SciFinder (R)]