Hydrogen generation from biogenic and fossil fuels by autothermal reforming

Abstract Hydrogen generation for fuel cell systems by reforming technologies from various fuels is one of the main fields of investigation of the Fraunhofer ISE. Suitable fuels are, on the one hand, gaseous hydrocarbons like methane, propane but also, on the other hand, liquid hydrocarbons like gasoline and alcohols, e.g., ethanol as biogenic fuel. The goal is to develop compact systems for generation of hydrogen from fuel being suitable for small-scale membrane fuel cells. The most recent work is related to reforming according to the autothermal principle — fuel, air and steam is supplied to the reactor. Possible applications of such small-scale autothermal reformers are mobile systems and also miniature fuel cell as co-generation plant for decentralised electricity and heat generation. For small stand-alone systems without a connection to the natural gas grid liquid gas, a mixture of propane and butane is an appropriate fuel.