A cost effective steam reformer for a distributed hydrogen infrastructure

In this paper the design and demonstration of a 7nm3h-1 integrated steam reforming based hydrogen production unit using a Fischer–Tropsch diesel is reported. The system design is discussed in detail, including the fuel processor itself as well as the hydrogen purification and results from stand-alone operation of the combined unit operations is reported. Further, the results of an integration of the fuel processor and a system consisting of 4 kWe fuel cells, 30 kWe photovoltaic installation and hydrogen storage are described. Finally, a discussion on the advantages of a hydrogen based integrated system versus a load-following system is pointed out. The operation of the fuel-processing unit showed a lower heating value based system efficiency of about 58%, including parasitic power consumption, with hydrogen produced containing less than 1 ppm CO. Fuel conversion was about 90%, and the parasitic power consumption was low enough to be considered acceptable. When integrated with the fuel cells the operation indicates that the hydrogen quality is good enough for long-term operation.