1 Utilization of methanol as hydro- gen supply for fuel cells - sustainable IMM COMPACT METHANOL and compact 2 IMM compact methanol steam REFORMER – HYDROGEN SUPPLY reformer produces enough hydrogen to power a 6.5 kW fuel cell FOR MOBILITY Mobile fuel cell applications require compact Fraunhofer Institute for and simple hydrogen supply considering also Catalyst coated reformer Micro engineering 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 carbon dioxide 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 steam reforming 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..