Hydrogen production for fuel cell application in an

Results concerning the coupling of the steam reforming (SR) and total oxidation (TOX) of methanol in a two-passage reactor are presented. A commercially available copper based catalyst is used for the steam reforming. For the total oxidation, a highly active cobalt oxide catalyst was developed. Both catalysts are used in form of thin layers immobilized on the wall of the micro-channels. Reactor design and operating conditions are based on kinetic models developed under isothermal conditions in micro-structured reactors. For the oxidation reaction, complete conversion of methanol (>99%) at temperatures higher than 250 ◦C is observed. For the steam reforming, the hydrogen and CO2 selectivity is higher than 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 determined by the thermal inertia of the system