Methanol Reformer by Plate-Type Catalyst

Abstract

Methanol reformers for portable and automobile fuel-cell systems need to be improved to achieve a shorter start-up time and smaller size. An effective way to do this is to use plate-type catalysts in the reformers. This study is related with the methanol steam reforming on plate type Cu/Zn/Al₂O₃ catalyst prepared applying the anodic oxidation. This catalyst has high catalytic activity and a much lower catalytic-activity deterioration rate than the commercial CuO-ZnO catalyst. The start-up time of the plate-fin-type methanol reformer can be significantly shorter than that of a conventional fixed-bed-type one because of its high heat-transfer performance. Its size should also be significantly smaller because of its high heat transfer performance and smaller of loaded-catalyst volume.