1 Utilization of methanol as hydro- gen supply for fuel cells - sustainable IMM COMPACT METHANOL and compact 2 IMM compact methanol steam REFORMER – SUPPLY reformer produces enough hydrogen to power a 6.5 kW FOR MOBILITY

Mobile fuel cell applications require compact Fraunhofer Institute for and simple hydrogen supply considering also Catalyst coated reformer Micro­engineering and the still limited availability of compressed Microsystems IMM hydrogen. For many portable and mobile IMM has developed a highly compact applications, methanol is a viable alternative methanol reformer which has several Carl-Zeiss-Strasse 18-20 to compressed hydrogen owing to its higher advantages compared to conventional 55129 Mainz | Germany power density and easy transportation. technology, which originate from our Methanol can be produced from renewable unique catalyst and reactor technology: Contact sources, but also from from industrial processes such as cement fabrica-  Robust catalyst, no pre-treatment Prof. Dr. Gunther Kolb tion or even from the atmosphere. necessary, no performance drop after Phone: +49 6131 990-341 Its conversion to hydrogen (named refor- longer shut-down. [email protected] ming) is easiest compared to many other  Higher activity compared to conventio- alcohol or hydrocarbon fuels, which require nal technology allows minimum catalyst www.imm.fraunhofer.de much higher operating temperature of the demand (and cost). reforming process.  Catalyst coating similar to automotive The hydrogen content of reformed me- exhaust cleaning reduces catalyst thanol (reformate) is with 75 % (dry basis) demand further. highest of all fuels.  Stable catalyst operation at partial load The reformate is then fed to a fuel cell allows system modulation. (possible are high and low temperature PEM  Plate heat exchanger technology allows fuel cells) which produce electric power. optimum heat integration and system efficiency. 3 Long term stability test of IMM self-developed and patented me- thanol reforming catalyst 4 IMM compact methanol fuel processor includes fuel supply and exhaust gas utilization

 Reactor fabrication similar to automotive IMM compact methanol steam reformer Benefit from 18 years experience in fuel high pressure heat exchangers or fuel reactor technology - tailormade for the processor development for stationary, mo- cell metallic bipolar plates. reaction bile (aviation, maritime, ground transport)  Cheap fabrication steps: Embossing, and portable applications. Apart from the screen printing and laser welding allow Benefit from 20 years experience in deve- reformer, the fuel cell hydrogen supply cost reduction for product ramp-up. lopment of reformers for a large variety of requires devices for evaporation, in case of fuels (ethanol, diesel and many others). low temperature PEM fuel cell technology a reactor for CO removal and other balance- IMM unique methanol Conventional methanol steam reformer of-plant. The whole assembly is named fuel catalyst technology - tailormade for the fuel reactors are fixed bed reactors, which are processor. IMM has developed compact developed for large scale chemical proces- and highly integrated high-performance Benefit from 18 years experience in refor- ses. They have a number of draw-backs: components for that. The fuel processor ming catalyst development for reforming, design needs to be optimized for your CO-clean-up and combustion.  They suffer from catalyst attrition specific application: especially in mobile applications. Commercial methanol steam reforming  The catalyst is not fully utilized and con-  the fuel cell type, catalysts had been developed for industrial sequently even more catalyst is required  the power range, methanol synthesis and are little suited for compared to coated catalyst.  the specific environment, decentralized reforming (reverse process).  The heat management is difficult, heat  the specific market requirements has to be introduced to drive the steam (achievable price and sales numbers)  They require operation at temperatures reforming reaction. because fabrication techniques need to below 300 °C, which makes the reaction  Substantial heat is contained in the be chosen accordingly. too slow and consequently the catalyst fuel cell off-gas which can also not be Talk to our experts to get the optimum demand high and reactors rather bulky. utilized efficiently. solution for your system!  They are also sensitive to air exposure.  Automotive monolith reactors are not  They generate carbon monoxide excessi- suited for the steam reforming reaction. vely at partial load. References All these issues are addressed by IMM All these obstacles are overcome by inno- compact reformer technology. The [1] Wichert, M. et al. Kinetic Investigations vative IMM self developed and patented application of catalyst coatings in a plate of the Steam Reforming of Methanol …. catalyst technology, which follows a heat exchanger allows optimum catalyst Chem. Eng. Sci. 2016, 155, 201. completely different route of the reforming utilization and heat management through [2] Men, Y. et al.Methanol steam reforming reaction [1], [2]. Its stability and robustness integrated fuel cell off-gas combustion. over bimetallic Pd-In/Al2O3 catalysts ... has been proven in the lab by excessive The robustness of this technology has Appl. Catal. A 2010, 380, 15. long term testing (see figure) and in been proven in practical applications under [3] Kolb, G. Design and Operation of a practical operation in reactors of up to 20 conditions of start-up, stationary operation Compact Micro-channel 5 kW Methanol kW scale. Since its invention a decade ago, and load changes [3] . Steam Reformer … Chem. Eng. J. 2012, the catalyst was continusly improved. 207-208, 388.