Plasma chain catalytic reforming of methanol for on-board hydrogen production

Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies are being deployed to increase energy reliability and environmental performance. On-board hydrogen production via thermocatalytic reforming of liquid fuels is not a new concept, but has not been realized previously due to mismatches in rates and sizes of the necessary reactors. Here we demonstrate an advanced on-board hydrogen production by warm plasma chain catalysis for fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) with high specific productivity and transient response. Methanol, air and steam reactants as two specific feeds are fed into the reactor without soot formation and catalyst sintering. Oxidative pyrolysis reaction (OPR) by plasma, steam reforming (SR), and pyrolysis at high temperature, and SR and water gas shift (WGS) at medium temperature over catalysts occur subsequently for the coupled process. The heat with OPR is efficiently utilized by the subsequent endothermic reactions. Hydrogen selectivity of 99% (59 vol%, 4.1 SLM) with methanol conversion of 92% is achieved. The CO concentration of 7 vol% approaches the thermodynamic equilibrium value of 6.65 vol%. A fascinating match of energy efficiency of 91% (of methanol to hydrogen) and the hydrogen atom utilization of 88% is stressed. It is attributed to the chain catalysis of (oxidative) pyrolysis and WGS in sequence (as well as SR), which is initiated by warm plasma. Such a coupled process can be scaled up and used for wide applications from FCEVs and hydrogen refueling stations.