Combined methanol reforming for hydrogen generation over monolithic catalysts

An experimental investigation on hydrogen generation from methanol using monolithic catalysts is presented in this paper. The activity and carbon dioxide selectivity for the reforming of methanol over various binary copper-based materials, Cu/Cr, Cu/Zn and Cu/Zr, have been evaluated. The methanol reforming was performed using steam reforming and combined reforming (CMR, a combination of steam reforming and partial oxidation). The CMR process was carried out at two modes of operation: near auto-thermal and at slightly exothermal conditions. The catalysts have been characterized using BET surface area measurement, X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS). The results show that the choice of catalytic material has a great influence on the methanol conversion and carbon dioxide selectivity of the reforming reaction. The zinc-containing catalyst showed the highest activity for the steam reforming process, whereas the copper/chromium catalyst had the highest activity for the CMR process. The copper/zirconium catalyst had the highest CO2 selectivity for all the investigated process alternatives. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.