Silicon-based miniaturized-reformer for portable fuel cell applications

A micro-reformer was made by using silicon fabrication technology and a new catalyst loading method of ‘fill-and-dry coating’. The techniques of silicon wet etching, bonding and thin-film deposition were applied in the micro-reformer process, and a commercial Cu-ZnO-Al2O3 catalyst served as the reforming catalyst. The volume of the single micro-reactor was 0.55 cm3 and the micro-reformer stack, which consists of one vaporizer and two reformers, occupied 15 cm3. Methanol solution was used as the reactant and the composition and feed rate were varied. The operating temperature of the reformer was in the range of 280–320 °C and was controlled by an electrical thin-film heater at a fixed vaporizer temperature of 150 °C. The product gas was composed of 75% H2, 25% CO2 and 2100 ppm CO. The maximum hydrogen production rate and conversion were about 200 cm3 and 95% at 320 °C, respectively.