Hydrogen from Coal-Derived Methanol: Experimental Results

Abstract

*† This study investigates hydrogen production via steam reformation of coal-derived methanol. The use of coal-derived methanol in fuel cell applications has recently been introduced as a potential energy pathway. However, prior to this study it was unknown if coal-derived methanol obtained from coal gasification is a pure enough feedstock to produce hydrogen for fuel cell applications. As a baseline, a study of fuel cell grade methanol has also been completed. Metrics for comparison are fuel conversion to hydrogen and catalyst degradation. The degradation of the catalyst is evidenced by the decrease in fuel conversion over time at a constant space velocity. The two types of methanol (fuel cell grade and coal-derived) contain different concentrations and types of impurities with different effects on catalyst degradation as evidenced by the performance of the fuel processor. Because of these considerations, different deactivation rates between fuel cell grade and coal-derived methanol were expected. This study shows the practicality of a new hydrogen pathway.