Hydrogen from Methanol for Fuel Cells

Bench scale studies demonstrated the production of hydrogen from an equimolar methanol-water mixture in a single bed of either a precious metal or a base metal catalyst. In either case, the catalyst was effective both in dissociating the methanol and in promoting the water gas shift reaction to a significant degree. With the base metal catalyst, yields in excess of 90P/o of theoretical were obtained at 100 psig and 700 F based on the total hydrogen content of the feed. It was further demonstrated that by lining the reaction chamber with a supported silver-palladium alloy membrane, ultrapure hydrogen suitable for direct use in fuel cells could be produced in a compact integral reactor-purification system.