Design and Fabrication of a Methanol Reformer for Production of

Hydrogen as Fuel for High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel

Cells

John Snyder, Jantzen Allen, Dietrick Vonnallman

Advisor: Dr. Vladimir Gurau

Kent State University at Tuscarawas, Department of Engineering Technology, 330 University Drive

NE, New Philadelphia, Ohio, 44663

Fuel Cells are an extremely promising alternative to today’s energy problems. Though not suited for every application, Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells are an extremely attractive source of electricity for certain mobile and stationary applications. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel

cells use hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as an oxidant to generate a reliable flow of electricity. While this method to produce electricity is proven, there is a problem with the storage and containment of

the reactant gasses. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, hydrogen gas (and even liquid hydrogen) has an

extremely low energy density and requires expensive and bulky canisters in order to store and transport. To work around this problem, methanol liquid can be easily stored and reformed to produce

hydrogen rich gas to fuel a PEM fuel cell. The methanol is reformed at a temperature between 250-300 degrees C. This temperature range is slightly higher than the operating temperature of some PEMFCs using phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole membrane electrode assemblies. The gas

exiting the reformer can be used to fuel the fuel cell, as well as supply heat to the fuel cell.

I had the opportunity as an undergraduate student to assist in the design and fabrication of a methanol reformer for use in a mobile application.

The objectives of the research where to design and build a methanol reformer that was to be used to supply hydrogen gas as fuel for a 1 kW PEM fuel cell. The fuel cell was then going to be used to

supply electricity to power an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. In order to successfully reform methanol liquid in a mobile application, we generated an exothermic

reaction using hydrogen peroxide and a platinum based catalyst. In order to contain this reaction, a tube-in-tube reactor design was used. A peristaltic pump pushed methanol liquid into the outside tube

loaded with a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst. In order to generate heat for the reaction to occur, a second peristaltic pump pushed hydrogen peroxide into the interior tube loaded with a Pt-based catalyst. Due to the peroxide being an extremely powerful oxidizer, heat was produced so that the reaction chamber

could reach the appropriate temperature1. The reformed methanol gas was then sent out the other end of the tube and to a designated location. Below are pictures of the completed reformer and the

reformer at various stages of testing. While the project was a great learning experience, it was incomplete at the time of my graduation.

Trials are still ongoing.

Initial Design

Final Design

Testing, using a hotplate to generate heat instead of the

peroxide.

Thermocouple readout indicating reactor tube

temperature.

[1] The formula for hydrogen peroxide is H2O2 (similar looking to water, only with an extra oxygen

molecule). Once hydrogen peroxide comes in contact with the platinum catalyst, the extra oxygen molecule has a tendency to break off, which generates a lot of energy, which generates heat. The

byproducts of this reaction are heat, oxygen, and water.