Kinetics of Methanol Steam Reforming with a Pd–Zn–Y/CeO2 Catalyst under Realistic Operating Conditions of a Portable Reformer in Fuel Cell Applications

Kinetics of methanol steam reforming (MSR) with a catalyst containing palladium and zinc on a cerium oxide support was investigated using a differential reactor approach. The goal of the study was to develop optimal process conditions for portable fuel reformers in fuel cell applications. Activation energies for the MSR reaction and for the overall methanol conversion, as well as pre-exponential factors and the reaction orders for CH3OH, H2O, H2, CO2, and CO were determined. The study covers the temperature range from 230 to 320 °C, consistent with the operation of a reformer integrated to a portable power fuel cell device. All work was done with a mixture of CH3OH and H2O with a volume ratio 2:1 (molar ratio 0.88:1) at atmospheric pressure, which is representative of the process conditions of practical interest for this application. For the determination of reaction orders the concentration of each reactant under consideration was varied to mimic a broad range of CH3OH conversions. The following power la...