A fuel processor system, combining a methanol-fueled steam reformer and a palladium membran for hydrogen separation, has been developed with the aim of establishing an advanced crucial technology for fuel reformation, which is one approach to producing hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles. A steam reformer reactor and a hydrogen separation membrane unit have been developed that are applicable to a hypothetical fuel cell system with a maximum power output of 30 kW. An evaluation was made of the fuel processor system that integrates these units. The results made the following points clear. As a result of designing and evaluating a steam reformer reactor applicable to a 30-kW system, it was found that the hydrogen concentration was virtually the same regardless of the applied load. An evaluation was made of the hydrogen separation membrane module, and the hydrogen permeation coefficient obtained was used as the basis for determining the specifications of the hydrogen separation membrane unit for the 30-kW system. An evaluation was made of a system that integrated the steam reformer reactor and hydrogen separation membrane unit, and the following two performance targets of this research were confirmed. A process calculation was made on the basis of the test data obtained for a 6-kW system (20% load). The results showed that a fuel processor efficiency of 72.5% and a fuel cell system efficiency of 44% were obtained, both of which exceeded the performance targets. The hydrogen flow rate after the methanizer was confirmed to exceed NL/min at 1 MPa-gage, which corresponds to a rated power output of 30 kW. An investigation was made of the volume of the fuel processor system for potential automotive application. The volume was found to be approximately 90 L, or less than half that of a hydrogen storage tank capable of storing 4 kg of hydrogen gas at a charging pressure of 35 MPa. A separate fuel tank with an additional volume of 40 L would also be needed. This result revealed that the proposed fuel processor system has excellent vehicle mountability.
Research on steam reformer system with hydrogen membrane for automobiles
Forschung über ein Dampfreformersystem mit Wasserstofftrennmembran für Kraftwagen
Review of Automotive Engineering (JSAE) ; 26 , 3 ; 263-268
2005
6 Seiten, 8 Bilder, 5 Tabellen, 5 Quellen
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
ELECTRICALLY-CONTROLLED STEAM AUTOMOBILES
SAE Technical Papers | 1918
|Steam Reformer With Fibrous Catalytic Combustor
NTRS | 1987
|Electrically-controlled steam automobiles
Engineering Index Backfile | 1918
|Steam automobiles for railway service
Engineering Index Backfile | 1904
|