Abstract
A membrane reformer is composed of a steam reformer equipped with palladium-based alloy modules in its catalyst bed, and can perform steam reforming reaction and hydrogen separation processes simultaneously, without shift converters and purification systems. It thus can be configured much more compactly and can provide higher efficiency than the conventional technologies. In the present study, we have manufactured and tested a membrane reformer with nominal hydrogen production capacity of 40 Nm3/h, with the purpose of demonstration of its capability of simple one-step reaction to produce high-purity hydrogen, its compactness, and its high energy efficiency to produce pure hydrogen from natural gas.
