Fuel processing for portable power applications

The present work focuses on fuel processing at a very short contact time (GHSV = 36,000-144,000 h(-1)) and a relatively lower temperature (<500degreesC). More than 95% conversion can be achieved by steam reforming of clean fuels, such as isooctane and synthetic diesel. A unique characteristic of the current catalytic system is the flexibility in steaming reforming of different hydrocarbon fuels under different conditions. High efficiency methanol steam reforming catalyst performance has been demonstrated which implies a feasibility in designing a high performance methanol steam reformer with reduced volume for portable device applications. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.