Redox Behavior of a Copper‐Based Methanol Reformer for Fuel Cell Applications

Abstract

Remarkable cycling performance and operation during steam reforming of methanol at 210 °C can be obtained with a CuZnAlOx catalyst supported on the gas diffusion layer of a carbon paper incorporated into the fuel cell anode compartment. Exceptional stability is obtained for at least 100 h under reaction conditions, whereas 10–15 % deactivation is obtained afterwards, in accordance with typical behavior for copper‐based catalysts. Despite that most catalysts of this type suffer from pyrophoricity and sintering phenomena after exposure in air, this is not the case in the present work, where the proposed methanol reformer shows high tolerance under repeated on/off cycles. In accordance with in situ characterization under similar conditions, controlled passivation during shut‐down protects the active metallic copper and prevents undesirable sintering.

Performance enhancement by optimizing the reformer for an internal reforming methanol fuel cell

“…The used catalyst is commercial CuZnAlOx catalyst (HiFuel R120). For practical applications, long‐term stability test of the optimal reformer was carried out under continuous methanol feed at 473 K. It can be seen from Figure that the reformer was quite stable and less than 10% decline in methanol conversion was observed during the 100 hours period, which is similar to the results reported by Joan Papavasiliou et al According to their research, the highly active CuZnAlOx catalyst (HiFuel R120) shows high tolerance under repeated on/off cycles. So the optimized reformer is promising to be integrated into an IRMFC single cell for portable, mobile, and off‐grid applications.…”

Investigation of the Inhibiting Role of Hydrogen in the Steam Reforming of Methanol

“…[47][48][49][50][51] Recently, we have demonstrated that this objective can be also achieved via in-situ electrochemical pumping of H 2 in an internal reforming methanol fuel cell, where at atmospheric pressure and low temperatures in the range of 200-210°C, the equilibrium methanol conversion is close to 100 %. [22,27,31,[52][53][54] In addition to that, inhibition of the reaction rate by the produced carbon monoxide is minimized since its concentration is well below the WGS equilibrium and follows secondary pathways, however all the kinetic reports on SRM process do not contain a relative parameter in the proposed equations.…”

Steam Reforming of Methanol over Nanostructured Pt/TiO2 and Pt/CeO2 Catalysts for Fuel Cell Applications

“…Moreover, this type of fuel cell can also tolerate high concentrations of CO, as high as 2 vol.%, in the reformed hydrogen-rich gas stream, thus making the methanol fuel processor more simple and lighter in weight and volume, since both WGS and PROX catalytic reactors and the accompanied heat exchangers and other peripherals will not be necessary [1,2]. Recently, Avgouropoulos et al [1][2][3][4][5] demonstrated the functionality of an Internal Reforming Methanol Fuel Cell (IRMFC), where the methanol gets reformed by a Cu-based catalyst incorporated into the anode compartment of HT-PEMFC. This option offers more room for simplification of the design and control of a compact power unit, which will be very attractive for portable and off-grid applications.…”

“…Steam Reforming of Methanol (SRM) is an endothermic catalytic process that provides at relatively low temperatures (<250 • C) and ambient pressure, a hydrogen-rich gas stream (hydrogen up 75%) with low CO concentration (usually around 1-2%; mainly produced via methanol decomposition or/and reverse-WGS, thus diminishing hydrogen selectivity of SRM process) [6][7][8][9] exchangers and other peripherals will not be necessary [1,2]. Recently, Avgouropoulos et al [1][2][3][4][5] demonstrated the functionality of an Internal Reforming Methanol Fuel Cell (IRMFC), where the methanol gets reformed by a Cu-based catalyst incorporated into the anode compartment of HT-PEMFC. This option offers more room for simplification of the design and control of a compact power unit, which will be very attractive for portable and off-grid applications.…”

“…Therefore, highly efficient methanol reforming catalysts should be developed, matching the operation level of IRMFC (i.e., 200-220 • C). Towards this aim the research community employs new chemical synthesis methods for the preparation of nanostructured catalysts with high selectivity, extremely high activity, low energy demands and long-life time [4,5,[10][11][12]. These properties can be achieved only by controlling the size, the shape, the particle size distribution, the composition and the electronic structure of the surface, the thermal and chemical stability of the specific nanocomponents.…”