METHANOL REFORMER SYSTEM AND DESIGN FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The design of fuel processing hardware for methanol-powered fuel cell propulsion plants establishes new requirements for compactness and transient response. This paper examines system design issues for heterogeneous catalytic devices and describes experiments with a prototypical recirculating fuel processor that explores design parameters. Results indicate that current CuO-ZnO heterogeneous catalysts are heat transport limited across the reactant gas boundary layer. The pressurized, recirculation design is selected to meet the heating, transient, weight, volume, temperature, and startup requirements for future vehicular systems.

Media Info

  • Pagination: p. 723-728

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00459723
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Energy Research Abstracts
  • Report/Paper Numbers: CONF-850808-
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Nov 30 1986 12:00AM