Combined reforming of methane with carbon dioxide and oxygen in molten carbonate fuel cell reactor

An application of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) system to the reforming reactor is proposed. Molten carbonate is regarded as a permselective membrane for oxygen and carbon dioxide. A combination of partial oxidation of methane with carbon dioxide reforming of methane is possible by applying the MCFC-type reactor as a membrane reactor. The energy of the reaction can be directly converted into electric power. This suggested the possibility of chemicals (syn-gas) and energy (electric power) co-generation and a new way of utilizing carbon dioxide. The selection of the anode catalyst is essential for the reforming reaction. Several transition metals, rare earth metals and noble metals (especially ruthenium) were tested. Among them, nickel was selected as a material for the anode catalyst. The effect of lithium addition was also studied. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.