Design and Performance Test of a Micro-Reformer for Fuel-cell Application
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Yuan, Kuo-Chieh
Abstract
PEMFC may be applied in micro-scale for its high density of energy. However, the disadvantage of the difficulty in storing gaseous hydrogen in the PEMFC system must be overcome. Fortunately, the problem may be solved by a fuel-processing system for generating hydrogen through the reformation of liquid methanol. The reforming process may be greatly improved by the use of some proper catalysts. The key points for the reformation are, therefore, the type and amount of the catalyst, the design of the reacting channel, and the control of the processing system.o generate hydrogen from methanol, the latter must be mixed with water and the solution of the reactants must be heated into gaseous state before entering the reactor. The temperature of the reactants and the ratio between methanol and water are thus also important. Furthermore, the area and time of contact between the reactants and the catalyst may affect the reaction rate significantly. The research project is, therefore, the dimensions of the reforming sub-system set up for the investigation will be 100mm x 120mm x 15mm, while those of the flow channels will be 750μm x 150μm x 60 mm. The catalyst CuO-ZnO-Al2O3 of about 10mg will be directly coated on the flow channel to save space and cost.he experimental results show that the methanol conversion and hydrogen yield increase with reacting temperature. When reacting temperature is set at 260℃, the maximum of methanol conversion rate obtained 72％ and the maximum of hydrogen yield obtained 7.50E-04（mole/min）. The methanol conversion increase with methanol feeding rate, decrease with hydrogen yield. The experimental results also show that the methanol conversion increase obviously with reacting area. It has been discovered that the optimal conversion rate which occurs when the reacting area is set at 5.70E+03mm2、the feeding rate is set at 0.01 ml/min、the reacting temperature is set at 260℃ is 85％ and the hydrogen yield is 2.90E-03 mole/min when the feeding rate is set at 0.5 ml/min.he effect of the above-mentioned factors, which may affect the performance of the complete reforming system, will be experimentally investigated within proper ranges, while the performance indicators of the system will be the conversion rate of methanol, the yielding rate of hydrogen, and the concentration of CO in the final products. Finally, the complete reforming system will be incorporated into a micro-PEMFC and tests will be conducted to show the appropriateness of the design.
Subjects
PEMFC
Hydrogen
Micro-reformer
Catalyst
Purification
Type
thesis
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