Hydrogen generation from biogenic and fossil fuels by autothermal reforming

Hydrogen generation for fuel cell systems by reforming technologies from va rious fuels is one of the main fields of investigation of the Fraunhofer IS E. 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 sy stems for generation of hydrogen from fuel being suitable for small-scale m embrane fuel cells. The most recent work is related to reforming according to the autothermal principle - fuel, air and steam is supplied to the react or. Possible applications of such small-scale autothermal reformers are mob ile systems and also miniature fuel cell as co-generation plant for decentr alised electricity and heat generation. For small stand-alone systems witho ut a connection to the natural gas grid liquid gas, a mixture of propane an d butane is an appropriate fuel. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.