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As part of the JOULE programme, the European Commission has supported two projects for the development of an on-board methanol reformer and gas clean-up systems for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) electric vehicle. The first, called MERCATOX, was for the development of an integrated methanol reformer and carbon monoxide selective oxidation system. The design of this integrated unit uses reforming, combustion and selective oxidation catalysts coated onto aluminium substrates. The second project, called COCLUP/HYSEP, was for the development and evaluation of a metal membrane unit for hydrogen separation from reformate produced by an on-board methanol reformer.

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.