Integrated partial oxidation and purification microsystems for autothermal production of hydrogen from methanol

The high efficiency and energy density of miniaturized fuel cells provide an attractive alternative to batteries in the portable power generation market for consumer and military electronic devices. The best fuel cell efficiency is typically achieved with hydrogen, but safety and reliability issues remain with current storage options. An integrated fuel processing microsystem consisting of hydrogen generation and catalytic combustion units is presented. The hydrogen generation unit combines a 200 nm thick Pd-Ag film with a methanol reforming catalyst, e.g., LaNiCoO3. The catalytic combustion units employ a Pt catalyst. Both units are formed in a silicon wafer by bulk silicon micromachining techniques. The energy generated in the combustion unit is efficiently transferred to the hydrogen production unit by the good thermal conduction of silicon. The whole system is thermally insulated. The performance of this integrated, autothermal hydrogen generation system is characterized in terms of energy efficiency and hydrogen production. Startup issues are also addressed. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting and Fall Showcase (Cincinnati, OH 10/30/2005-11/4/2005).

Integrated partial oxidation and purification microsystems for autothermal production of hydrogen from methanol Conference Paper