Hydrogen production of two-stage temperature steam reformer integrated with PBI membrane fuel cells to optimize thermal management

An endothermic methanol steam reformer achieves optimal performance at a temperature of about 240 °C. A polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane fuel cell was operated exothermically at 160 °C–200 °C. To better couple the lower temperature fuel cell to the higher temperature steam reformer, a two-stage temperature steam reformer to integrate into the PBI membrane fuel cell system is proposed. The reformer optimizes thermal management and increases the system efficiency.