• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.217-225
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• 2008

A new micro reformer system consisted of a micro reformer, a microcombustor and a micro evaporator was studied experimentally and computationally. In order to satisfy the primary requirements for designing the microcombustor integrated with a micro evaporator, i.e. stable burning in a small confinement and maximum heat transfer through a wall, the present microcombustor is simply cylindrical to be easily fabricated but two-staged (expanding downstream) to feasibly control ignition and stable burning. Results show that the aspect ratio and wall thickness of the microcombustor substantially affect ignition and thermal characteristics. For the optimized design conditions, a premixed microflame was easily ignited in the expanded second stage combustor, moved into the smaller first stage combustor, and finally stabilized therein. A micro reformer system integrated with a modified microcombustor based on the optimized design condition was fabricated. For a typical operating condition, the designed micro reformer system produced 22.3 sccm hydrogen (3.61 W in LHV) in an overall efficiency of 12%.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.105-112
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• 2022

Copper (Cu)-based catalysts have been widely used in a methanol steam reforming (MSR) reaction for hydrogen production for air-independent propulsion (AIP) applications and their good catalytic activities have attracted much attention. However, the agglomeration of the catalytic active site Cu causes deteriorating the catalytic performance and suppression of Cu agglomeration is a crucial issue in the AIP applications that the MSR system is typically operated at 250-300℃ for a long time. R. Sakai et al. recently showed a computational study on the anchoring effect that reduces an agglomeration of active sites by doping in a supporter. In order to present the anchoring effect on 𝛾-Al₂O₃ supported Cu-based catalysts, in this study, the adsorption energies of Cu on X-doped (X=ruthenium, phosphorus, silicon) 𝛾-Al₂O₃ were calculated and Cu adsorption energy decreased due to a change of the electronic structure originated from doping, thereby proving the anchoring effect.