Autothermal-reformation enhancement using a stratified-catalyst technique

An investigation of a stratified catalyst arrangement for methanol autothermal reforming was conducted. The stratified arrangement consisted of a monolith platinum group metal (PGM) catalyst, immediately followed by a pelletized Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 water gas shift (WGS) catalyst. The system was experimentally investigated under different test conditions by varying the flow rate, oxygen-to-carbon ratio, and the packed length of the downstream WGS bed. The reactor performance was quantified with several metrics including the fuel conversion, hydrogen yield, system temperatures, and preliminary results are shown for short-term catalyst degradation. Conversion and hydrogen yield increased significantly at low oxygen-to-carbon ratios as compared to the stand-alone PGM catalyst. Results confirm the benefits of using a PGM and WGS catalyst in a stratified fashion and the stratified arrangement increases performance over each of the catalysts used singularly. Further study is warranted considering potential degradation of the WGS bed caused by high temperatures encountered at the exit of the PGM section.