Methane and Methanol Steam Reforming in a Membrane Reactor for Efficient Hydrogen Production and Continuous Fuel Cell Operation

Our goal in this paper is the description and analysis of new findings and results on membrane reactors and catalytic reactors/heterogeneous processors for the steam reforming reactions of methane, natural gas, and methanol for use in power generation systems and fuel cells. The current communication continues this research by giving emphasis in the so-called “Improved Reaction” and “ReformingFuel Cell” systems. We examine the use of methane/methanol based gases (hydrogen generating feedstocks) as sources for Power/Electricity generation via Fuel Cell Technology (i.e., SOFCs). The work focuses on the analysis of methane steam reforming data from two types of reactors. The membrane based reformer and the conventional catalytic plug flow reformer. It was found that the membrane reformer offers higher yields of hydrogen than the plug flow reformer. The same is true for the methane conversions and the CO2 yields. It is expected that the integration of the membrane reformer into the fuel cell network will offer an improved design for this process operation.