On-board H2 generation by a catalytic hollow fibre microreactor for portable device applications

Abstract

Abstract A novel catalytic hollow fibre microreactor (CHFMR) that uses an asymmetric YSZ hollow fibre has been developed for on-board H 2 generation to be used in portable device applications. In the development of CHFMR, the 10 wt.%Ni/MgO–CeO 2 catalyst that was selected as a catalyst for the ethanol steam reforming (ESR) was impregnated into the inner surface of YSZ hollow fibres using the sol–gel Pechini technique. The catalytic activity tests were performed in the YSZ hollow fibres and the results were compared with fixed-bed reactors. An excellent catalyst utilisation in the CHFMR enables a small quantity of catalyst to be used for the ESR. The result shows that 8 units of CHFMR that only has an 18 mg catalyst produced a relatively similar amount of H 2 compared to a fixed-bed reactor that used 100 mg.