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This paper describes a methanol-steam reforming test in which the reactant gas was caused to condense on the catalyst bed by limiting the heat input to the bed such that the endothermic heat of reaction decreased the temperature to below the dew point The catalyst bed never reached expected conversion rates throughout the test. Samples of the spent catalyst bed were characterized using NAA, TGA, XRD, BET surface area and copper surface area. The characterization revealed how the condensation of the reactants on the bed caused irreversible catalyst deactivation and loss in reformer performance.

A methanol fuelled P.E.M. fuel cell power plant with a baseline output of 112 kW (150 HP) was simulated using previously developed models for the various sub-systems. The duty cycle of a typical tractor-trailer for long distance haulage was used as the design basis. The integration of the various components of the system was examined in detail. By recovering heat from the fuel cell cooling system, burning excess hydrogen from the fuel cell anode exhaust and thermally coupling the exothermic selective oxidizer with the endothermic methanol steam reformer, the fuel supply sub-system can be made autothermal (ie.requiring no additional heating). Utilizing turbochargers on the fuel supply sub-system and also on the final system exhaust significantly reduces the parasitic load required for compressing air.