Methanol steam reforming for hydrogen production in a minireactor

In order to intensify the process of methanol steam reforming for hydrogen production, a minireactor is designed and fabricated. The reactor includes the functions of preheating, evaporation, superheating and reaction. The effects of temperature, water and methanol molar ratio, liquid space velocity on the reactor outlet parameters such as methanol conversion are studied through experiments. A 3-D model is established for the reactor as to describe the performance of the reactor. Results show that when the reaction temperature is 260°C, water and methanol molar ratio is 1.3, liquid space velocity is 0.2 h-1, the yield of hydrogen reaches 0.2 mol/(h&middotg). This yield can provide the hydrogen for 10.2 W fuel cell with the hydrogen utility efficiency of 80% and cell efficiency of 60%.