A novel integrated thermally coupled configuration for methane-steam reforming and hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline

In this work, a novel thermally coupled reactor containing the steam reforming process in the endothermic side and the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline in the exothermic side has been investigated. In this novel configuration, the conventional steam reforming process has been substituted by the recuperative coupled reactors which contain the steam reforming reactions in the tube side, and the hydrogenation reaction in the shell side. The co-current mode is investigated and the simulation results are compared with corresponding predictions for an industrial fixed-bed steam reformer reactor operated at the same feed conditions. The results show that although synthesis gas productivity is the same as conventional steam reformer reactor, but aniline is also produced as an additional valuable product. Also it does not need to burn at the furnace of steam reformer. The performance of the reactor is numerically investigated for different inlet temperature and molar flow rate of exothermic side. The reactor performance is analyzed based on methane conversion, hydrogen yield and nitrobenzene conversion. The results show that exothermic feed temperature of 1270 K can produce synthesis gas with 26% methane conversion (the same as conventional) and nitrobenzene conversion in the outlet of the reactor is improved to 100%. This new configuration eliminates huge fired furnace with high energy consumption in steam reforming process.     

Micro methanol reformer combined with a catalytic combustor for a PEM fuel cell

This paper presents the development of a micro methanol reformer for portable fuel cell applications. The micro reformer consists of a methanol steam reforming reactor, catalytic combustor, and heat exchanger in-between. Cu/ZnO was selected as a catalyst for a methanol steam reforming and Pt for a catalytic combustion of hydrogen with air. Porous ceramic material was used as a catalyst support due to the large surface area and thermal stability. Photosensitive glass wafer was selected as a structural material because of its thermal and chemical stabilities. Performance of the reformer was measured at various test conditions and the results showed a good agreement with the three-dimensional analysis of the reacting flow. Considering the energy balance of the reformer/combustor model, the off-gas of fuel cell can be recycled as a feed of the combustor. The catalytic combustor generated the sufficient amount of heat to sustain the steam reforming of methanol. The conversion of methanol was 95.7% and the hydrogen flow of 53.7 ml/min was produced including 1.24% carbon monoxide. The generated hydrogen was the sufficient amount to operate 4.5 W polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.     

Simultaneous production of two types of synthesis gas by steam and tri‐reforming of methane using an integrated thermally coupled reactor: mathematical modeling

In this work, tri‐reforming and steam reforming processes have been coupled thermally together in a reactor for production of two types of synthesis gases. A multitubular reactor with 184 two‐concentric‐tubes has been proposed for coupling reactions of tri‐reforming and steam reforming of methane. Tri‐reforming reactions occur in outer tube side of the two‐concentric‐tube reactor and generate the needed energy for inner tube side, where steam reforming process is taking place. The cocurrent mode is investigated, and the simulation results of steam reforming side of the reactor are compared with corresponding predictions for thermally coupled steam reformer and also conventional fixed‐bed steam reformer reactor operated at the same feed conditions. This reactor produces two types of syngas with different H₂/CO ratios. Results revealed that H₂/CO ratio at the output of steam and tri‐reforming sides reached to 1.1 and 9.2, respectively. In this configuration, steam reforming reaction is proceeded by excess generated heat from tri‐reforming reaction instead of huge fired‐furnace in conventional steam reformer. Elimination of a low performance fired‐furnace and replacing it with a high performance reactor causes a reduction in full consumption with production of a new type of synthesis gas. The reactor performance is analyzed on the basis of methane conversion and hydrogen yield in both sides and is investigated numerically for various inlet temperature and molar flow rate of tri‐reforming side. A mathematical heterogeneous model is used to simulate both sides of the reactor. The optimum operating parameters for tri‐reforming side in thermally coupled tri‐reformer and steam reformer reactor are methane feed rate and temperature equal to 9264.4 kmol h^?1 and 1100 K, respectively. By increasing the feed flow rate of tri‐reforming side from 28,120 to 140,600 kmol h^?1, methane conversion and H₂ yield at the output of steam reforming side enhanced about 63.4% and 55.2%, respectively. Also by increasing the inlet temperature of tri‐reforming side from 900 to 1300 K, CH₄ conversion and H₂ yield at the output of steam reforming side enhanced about 82.5% and 71.5%, respectively. The results showed that methane conversion at the output of steam and tri‐reforming sides reached to 26.5% and 94%, respectively with the feed temperature of 1100 K of tri‐reforming side. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A transient study of double-jacketed membrane reactor via methanol steam reforming

A non-isothermal unsteady-state model was established to simulate methanol steam reforming using a double-jacketed Pd membrane reactor. At steady state, a self-sustained membrane reactor was achieved by the oxidation of residual methanol and hydrogen from reformer for endothermic steam reforming. The molar fractions of species and reformer temperature were analyzed under co-current operation between oxidation and reformer sides. The start-up of reformer was simulated under two conditions: (1) The catalyst temperature was lower than the influent temperature and (2) The catalyst temperature was higher than influent temperature. Condition 1 yielded higher methanol conversion and reformer temperature than condition 2 at steady state. Moreover, the instability of species can be minimized on condition 1 during start-up. The fluctuation of membrane reactor at steady state was also studied. Two strategies were compared to analyze the reformer response when temporary extra hydrogen was required. The results showed that increasing inlet methanol outperformed increasing reformer temperature.     

Demonstration of a scaled-down autothermal membrane methane reformer for hydrogen generation

A novel concept for hydrogen generation by methane steam reforming in a thermally coupled catalytic fixed bed membrane reformer is experimentally demonstrated. The reactor, built from three concentric compartments, indirectly couples the endothermic methane steam reforming with the exothermic methane oxidation, while hydrogen is separated by a permselective Pd membrane. The study focuses on the determination of the key operation parameters and understanding their influence on the reactor performance. It has been shown that the reactor performance is mainly defined by the dimensionless ratio of the methane steam reforming feed flow rate to the hydrogen maximal membrane flow rate and by the ratio of the oxidation and steam reforming methane feed flow rates.     

Hydrogen production using integrated methanol‐steam reforming reactor with various reformer designs for PEM fuel cells

A 95 mm × 40 mm × 15 mm compact reactor for hydrogen production from methanol‐steam reforming (MSR) is constructed by integrating a vaporizer, reformer, and combustor into a single unit. CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ is used as the catalyst for the MSR while the required heat is provided using Platinum (Pt) ‐catalytic methanol combustion. The reactor performance is measured using three reformer designs: patterned micro‐channel; inserted catalyst layer placed in a single plain channel; and catalyst coated directly on the bottom wall of single plain channel. Because of longer reactant residence time and more effective heat transfer, slightly higher methanol conversion can be obtained from the reformer with patterned microchannels. The experimental results show that there is no significant reactor performance difference in methanol conversion, hydrogen (H₂) production rate, and carbon monoxide (CO) composition among these three reformer designs. These results indicated that the flow and heat transfer may not play important roles in compact size reactors. The reformer design with inserted catalyst layer provides convenience in replacing the aged catalyst, which may be attractive in practical applications compared with the conventional packed bed and wall‐coated reformers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An experimental study on the reaction characteristics of a coupled reactor with a catalytic combustor and a steam reformer for SOFC systems

Steam reforming performance in a coupled reactor that consists of a steam reformer and a catalytic combustor is experimentally investigated in this study. Endothermic steam reforming can occur through the absorption of heat from the catalytic combustion of the anode offgas in a heat-exchanging coupled reactor. The reaction characteristics were observed by varying parameters such as the inlet temperature of the catalytic combustor, the excess air ratio for the catalytic combustion, the fuel utilization rate in the fuel cells, and the steam-to-carbon ratio in the steam reformer. The reactor temperature and reformate composition were measured to analyze the performance of the reactor. The results show the potential applicability and design technologies of the coupled reactor for the fuel processing of high temperature fuel cells using an external reformer.     

Differential evolution (DE) strategy for optimization of methane steam reforming and hydrogenation of nitrobenzene in a hydrogen perm‐selective membrane thermally coupled reactor

In this work, a thermally coupled membrane reactor is proposed for methane steam reforming and hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. The steam reforming process is carried out in the assisted membrane surface of the endothermic side, while the hydrogenation reaction of nitrobenzene to aniline is carried out on the other membrane surface of the exothermic side. The differential evolution (DE) strategy is applied to optimize this reactor considering nitrobenzene and methane conversion as the main objectives. The co‐current mode is investigated in this study, and the achieved optimization results are compared with those of conventional steam reformer reactor operated under the same feed conditions. The optimum values of feed temperature of exothermic side, feed molar flow rate of nitrobenzene, the steam‐to‐nitrobenzene molar ratio and the hydrogen‐to‐nitrobenzene molar ratio are determined during the optimization process. The simulation results show that the methane conversion and consequently hydrogen recovery yield are increased by 39.3% and 1.57, respectively, which contribute to aniline production with 27.3% saving in hydrogen supply from external and a reduction in environmental problems due to 100% nitrobenzene conversion. The optimization results justify the feasibility of coupling these reactions. Experimental proof‐of‐concept is needed to establish the validity and safe operation of the novel reactor. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal analysis of a micro tubular reactor for methanol steam reforming by optimizing the multilayer arrangement of catalyst bed for the catalytic combustion of methanolr

Packed bed tube reactors are commonly used for hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. However, the hydrogen production capacity of methanol steam reforming (MSR) is greatly limited by the poor heat transfer of packed catalyst bed. The hydrogen production capacity of catalyst bed can be effectively improved by optimizing the temperature distribution of reactor. In this study, four types of reactors including concentric circle methanol steam reforming reactor (MSRC), continuous catalytic combustion methanol steam reforming reactor (MSRR), hierarchical catalytic combustion methanol steam reforming reactor (MSRP) and segmented catalytic combustion reactor with fins (MSRF) are designed, modeled, compared and validated by experimental data. It was found that the maximum temperature difference of MSRC, MSRR, MSRP and MSRF reached 72.4 K, 58.6 K, 19.8 K and 11.3 K, respectively. In addition, the surface temperature inhomogeneity U_f and CO concentration of the MSRF decreased by 69.8% and 30.7%, compared with MSRC. At the same reactor volume, MSRF can achieve higher methanol conversion rate, and its effective energy absorption rate is 4.6%, 3.9% and 2.6% higher than that of MSRC, MSRR and MSRP, respectively. The MSRF could effectively avoid the influence of uneven temperature distribution on MSR compared with the other designs. In order to further improve the performance of MSRF, the influences of methanol vapor molar ratio, inlet temperature, flow rate, catalyst particle size and catalyst bed porosity on MSR were also discussed in the optimal reactor structure (MSRF).     

Modeling and simulation of methane steam reforming in a thermally coupled membrane reactor

A distributed mathematical model for thermally coupled membrane reactor that is composed of three channels is developed for methane steam reforming. Methane combustion takes place in the first channel on a Pt/δ–Al₂O₃$\text{Pt}/\delta \text{–}{\text{Al}}_2{\text{O}}_3$ catalyst layer that supplies the necessary heat for the endothermic steam reforming reaction. In the second channel, catalytic steam reforming reactions take place in the presence of Ni/MgO–Al₂O₃ catalyst. The combustion catalyst forms a thin layer next to the reactor wall to minimize the heat transfer resistance. Selective permeation of hydrogen through the palladium membrane is achieved either by co-current or counter-current flow of sweep gas through the third channel. The burner is modeled as a monolith reactor and the reformer is assumed to behave as a pseudo-homogenous reactor. The mass and energy balance equations for the thermally coupled membrane reactor form a set of 22 coupled ordinary differential equations. With the application of appropriate boundary conditions, the distributed reactor model for steady-state operation is solved as a boundary value problem. The model equations are discretized using spline collocation on finite elements. The discretized nonlinear modeling equations, along with the boundary conditions, form a system of algebraic equations that are solved using the trust region dogleg method. The performance of the reactor is numerically investigated for various key operating variables such as inlet fuel concentration, inlet steam/methane ratio, inlet reformer gas temperature and inlet reformer gas velocity. Simulations for both the co-current and the countercurrent flow modes are also performed using different sweep gas flow rates. For each case, the reactor performance is analyzed based on methane conversion and hydrogen recovery yield.     

Mathematical simulation of hydrogen production via methanol steam reforming using double-jacketed membrane reactor

The hydrogen production and purification via methanol reforming reaction was studied in a double-jacketed Pd membrane reactor using a 1-D, non-isothermal mathematical model. Both mass and heat transfer behavior were evaluated simultaneously in three parts of the reactor, annular side, permeation tube and the oxidation side. The simulation results exhibited that increasing the volumetric flow rate of hydrogen in permeation side could enhance hydrogen permeation rate across the membrane. The optimum velocity ratio between permeation and annular sides is 10. However, hydrogen removal could lower the temperature in the reformer. The hydrogen production rate increases as temperature increases at a given Damköhler number, but the methanol conversion and hydrogen recovery yield decrease. In addition, the optimum molar ratio of air and methanol was 1.3 with three air inlet temperatures. The performance of a double-jacketed membrane reactor was compared with an autothermal reactor by judging against methanol conversion, hydrogen recovery yield and production rate. Under the same reaction conditions, the double-jacketed reactor can convert more methanol at a given reactor volume than that of an autothermal reactor.     

Investigation of a methanol processing system comprising of a steam reformer and two preferential oxidation reactors for fuel cells

Methanol steam reforming is able to produce hydrogen-rich syngas onsite for fuel cells and avoids the problems of hydrogen storage. Nevertheless, CO in the reformate needs to be further removed to ppm level before it can be fed into proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this study, a methanol processing system consisting of a methanol reformer and two-stage preferential oxidation reactors is developed. The hydrogen production performance and scalability of the reformer are experimentally investigated under various operating conditions. The methanol reformer system shows stable methanol conversion rate and linearly increased H₂ flow rate as the number of repeating unit increases. Methanol conversion rate of 96.8% with CO concentration of 1.78% are achieved in the scaled-up system. CO cleanup ability of the two-stage preferential oxidation reactors is experimentally investigated based on the reformate compositions by varying the operating temperature and O₂ to CO ratios. The results demonstrate that the developed CO cleanup train can decrease the CO concentration from 1.6% to below 10 ppm, which meets the requirement of the fuel cell. Finally, stability of the integrated methanol processing system is tested for 180 h operation.     

Hydrogen production by reforming of liquid hydrocarbons in a membrane reactor for portable power generation—Experimental studies

One of the most promising technologies for lightweight, compact, portable power generation is proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. PEM fuel cells, however, require a source of pure hydrogen. Steam reforming of hydrocarbons in an integrated membrane reactor has potential to provide pure hydrogen in a compact system. Continuous separation of product hydrogen from the reforming gas mixture is expected to increase the yield of hydrogen significantly as predicted by model simulations. In the laboratory-scale experimental studies reported here steam reforming of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, butane, methanol and Clearlite^® was conducted to produce pure hydrogen in a single step membrane reformer using commercially available Pd–Ag foil membranes and reforming/WGS catalysts. All of the experimental results demonstrated increase in hydrocarbon conversion due to hydrogen separation when compared with the hydrocarbon conversion without any hydrogen separation. Increase in hydrogen recovery was also shown to result in corresponding increase in hydrocarbon conversion in these studies demonstrating the basic concept. The experiments also provided insight into the effect of individual variables such as pressure, temperature, gas space velocity, and steam to carbon ratio. Steam reforming of butane was found to be limited by reaction kinetics for the experimental conditions used: catalysts used, average gas space velocity, and the reactor characteristics of surface area to volume ratio. Steam reforming of methanol in the presence of only WGS catalyst on the other hand indicated that the membrane reactor performance was limited by membrane permeation, especially at lower temperatures and lower feed pressures due to slower reconstitution of CO and H₂ into methane thus maintaining high hydrogen partial pressures in the reacting gas mixture. The limited amount of data collected with steam reforming of Clearlite^® indicated very good match between theoretical predictions and experimental results indicating that the underlying assumption of the simple model of conversion of hydrocarbons to CO and H₂ followed by equilibrium reconstitution to methane appears to be reasonable one.     

Experimental validation of a pilot membrane reactor for hydrogen production by solar steam reforming of methane at maximum 550 °C using molten salts as heat transfer fluid

An innovative steam reformer for hydrogen production at temperatures lower than 550 °C has been developed in the EU project CoMETHy (Compact Multifuel-Energy To Hydrogen converter). The steam reforming process has been specifically tailored and re-designed to be combined with Concentrating Solar plants using “solar salts”: a low-temperature steam reforming reactor was developed, operating at temperatures up to 550 °C, much lower than the traditional process (usually > 850 °C). This result was obtained after extensive research, going from the development of basic components (catalysts and membranes) to their integration in an innovative membrane reformer heated with molten salts, where both hydrogen production and purification occur in a single stage. The reduction of process temperatures is achieved by applying advanced catalyst systems and hydrogen selective Pd-based membranes. Process heat is supplied by using a low-cost and environmentally friendly binary NaNO₃/KNO₃ liquid mixture (60/40 w/w) as heat transfer fluid; such mixture is commonly used for the same purpose in the concentrating solar industry, so that the process can easily be coupled with concentrating solar power (CSP) plants for the supply of renewable process heat. This paper deals with the successful operation and validation of a pilot scale reactor with a nominal capacity of 2 Nm³/h of pure hydrogen from methane. The plant was operated with molten salt circulation for about 700 h, while continuous operation of the reactor was achieved for about 150 h with several switches of operating conditions such as molten salts inlet temperature, sweep steam flow rate and steam-to-carbon feed ratio. The results obtained show that the membrane reformer allows to achieve twice as high a conversion compared to a conventional reformer operating at thermodynamic equilibrium under the same conditions considered in this paper. A highly pure hydrogen permeate stream was obtained (>99.8%), while the outlet retentate stream had low CO concentration (<2%). No macroscopic signs of reactor performance loss were observed over the experimental operation period.     

Steam reforming of propane in a fluidized bed membrane reactor for hydrogen production

Steam reforming of propane was carried out in a fluidized bed membrane reactor to investigate a feedstock other than natural gas for production of pure hydrogen. Close to equilibrium conditions were achieved inside the reactor with fluidized catalyst due to the very fast steam reforming reactions. Use of hydrogen permselective Pd₇₇Ag₂₃ membrane panels to extract pure hydrogen shifted the reaction towards complete conversion of the hydrocarbons, including methane, the key intermediate product. Irreversible propane steam reforming is limited by the reversibility of the steam reforming of this methane. To assess the performance improvement due to pure hydrogen withdrawal, experiments were conducted with one and six membrane panels installed along the height of the reactor. The results indicate that a compact reformer can be achieved for pure hydrogen production for a light hydrocarbon feedstock like propane, at moderate operating temperatures of 475–550 °C, with increased hydrogen yield.     

Simulation of steam reforming of biogas in an industrial reformer for hydrogen production

The paper aims to investigate the steam reforming of biogas in an industrial-scale reformer for hydrogen production. A non-isothermal one dimensional reactor model has been constituted by using mass, momentum and energy balances. The model equations have been solved using MATLAB software. The developed model has been validated with the available modeling studies on industrial steam reforming of methane as well as with the those on lab-scale steam reforming of biogas. It demonstrates excellent agreement with them. Effect of change in biogas compositions on the performance of industrial steam reformer has been investigated in terms of methane conversion, yields of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, product gas compositions, reactor temperature and total pressure. For this, compositions of biogas (CH₄/CO₂ = 40/60 to 80/20), S/C ratio, reformer feed temperature and heat flux have been varied. Preferable feed conditions to the reformer are total molar feed rate of 21 kmol/h, steam to methane ratio of 4.0, temperature of 973 K and pressure of 25 bar. Under these conditions, industrial reformer fed with biogas, provides methane conversion (93.08–85.65%) and hydrogen yield (1.02–2.28), that are close to thermodynamic equilibrium condition.     

A compact integrated fuel-processing system for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

A compact integrated fuel-processing system consisting of a plate-fin reformer (PFR) and a multi-stage preferential oxidation reactor is designed in this paper. The PFR, which was based on a plate-fin heat exchanger, is very compact, and reactant vaporization, methanol steam reforming and combustion are all integrated in it. Both internal plate-fins and external catalytic combustion were used to enhance heat transfer of the reformer, which offers both high methanol conversion ratio and low CO concentration, so that the water–gas shift reactor, which provides primary CO cleanup, is not necessary in this fuel-processing system. This will result in simplification of the fuel-processing system design and capital cost reduction. The performance of the main components in the fuel-processing system has been investigated. The axial temperatures of the different chambers in PFR were uniform, and the temperatures at the inlet and outlet of the PROX reactors were controlled strictly by plate-fin exchangers so that it could minimize parasitic hydrogen oxidation. In addition, the results indicated that this fuel-processing system can provide a high concentration of hydrogen and the system efficiency is always maintained above 75%. It is further demonstrated that the fuel-processing system could be operated autothermally and exhibited good test stability.     

Steam reforming of n-heptane for production of hydrogen and syngas

Simultaneous production of hydrogen and syngas from the catalytic reforming of n-heptane in circulating fast fluidized bed reactors (CFFBR) and circulating fast fluidized bed membrane reactors (CFFBMR) is investigated. This paper presents modeling and simulation approach for the analysis of these reformers. Complete conversion of heptane (100%) is attained at high steam to carbon feed ratios and shorter reactor lengths by both configurations. However, the CFFBMR is very efficient in hydrogen production and can produce exit hydrogen yield up to 473.14% higher than the CFFBR. It was found that operating the CFFBMR at the optimal conditions results in a minimum value of hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio (H₂/CO) within the recommended practical range for the syngas used as a feedstock for the gas to liquid processes (GTL). The results of the sensitivity analysis conducted for the CFFBMR has shown that the reaction side pressure and the feed temperature have significant effects on increasing the heptane conversion (up to 100%) and the temperature effect is stronger than the reaction side pressure effect. Considerable improvement in the hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio (H₂/CO) has been achieved by increasing the reaction side pressure, while the high feed temperature has negative effect on this ratio. It seems that the practical range of H₂/CO ratio can be achieved by controlling the reformer length and the right combinations of the operating conditions.     

Palladium based membranes and membrane reactors for hydrogen production and purification: An overview of research activities at Tecnalia and TU/e

In this paper, the main achievements of several European research projects on Pd based membranes and Pd membrane reactors for hydrogen production are reported. Pd-based membranes have received an increasing interest for separation and purification of hydrogen. In addition, the integration of such membranes in membrane reactors has been widely studied for enhancing the efficiency of several dehydrogenation reactions. The integration of reaction and separation in one multifunctional reactor allows obtaining higher conversion degrees, smaller reactor volumes and higher efficiencies compared with conventional systems. In the last decade, much thinner dense Pd-based membranes have been produced that can be used in membrane reactors. However, the thinner the membranes the higher the flux and the higher the effect of concentration polarization in packed bed membrane reactors. A reactor concept that can circumvent (or at least strongly reduce) concentration polarization is the fluidized bed membrane reactor configuration, which improves the heat transfer as well. Tecnalia and TU/e are involved in several European projects that are related to development of fluidized bed membrane reactors for hydrogen production using thin Pd-based (<5 μm) supported membranes for different application: In DEMCAMER project a water gas shift (WGS) membrane reactor was developed for high purity hydrogen production. ReforCELL aims at developing a high efficient heat and power micro-cogeneration system (m-CHP) using a methane reforming fluidized membrane reactor. The main objective of FERRET is the development of a flexible natural gas membrane reformer directly linked to the fuel processor of the micro-CHP system. FluidCELL aims the Proof-of-Concept of a m-CHP system for decentralized off-grid using a bioethanol reforming membrane reactor. BIONICO aims at applying membrane reactors for biogas conversion to hydrogen. The fluidized bed system allows operating at a virtually uniform temperature which is beneficial in terms of both membrane stability and durability and for the reaction selectivity and yield.     

A study on the integration of micro‐reformer and high‐ temperature PEM fuel cell

This study presented an integration platform for a methanol reformer and high‐temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The methanol micro‐reformer was combined with the catalytic reaction section and reforming section, whereas the catalytic reaction section with Pt catalysis maintained the constant temperature environment for a reforming process. SRM reforming results showed that 74 to 74.9% hydrogen and 23.5 to 25.7% of carbon dioxide in the mixture product, and less than 2% of carbon monoxide, was produced. Using the reforming product of low carbon monoxide concentration and the highest methanol conversion rate, a micro reformer link with a fuel cell integration experiment was performed. Results showed a high temperature PEMFC with 3 to 4 W power output under methanol flow rates of 15 ml/hr. Due to the lower hydrogen pressure supplied from the micro reformer, the fuel cell power output may become unstable. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20322