Suggested Citation:
Kashevaroff, David, Paul A. Erickson, Hyung-Chul Yoon (2009) The Potential of Using Autothermal Reformation With Copper-based Catalysts in Vehicle Applications. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-09-14

In the development of fuel cell vehicles, onboard steam reformation of hydrogen has been an option for providing hydrogen fuel. However, steam reformation generally has a slow response time to the transient requirements, and thus, autothermal reformation has been proposed as an alternative. This paper discusses the theoretical aspects of autothermal reformation with copper-based catalysts using high flow rates of methanol, and presents areas in which future research is needed. The parameters targeted in this study are fuel conversion, hydrogen selectivity, catalyst degradation, response time, and reformer volume.