A new study has suggested that tailored macroporous SiC porous monoliths coated with ruthenium catalyst and integrated into high density reactor housings could provide a way to easily extract hydrogen through steam reforming of propane.

One of the best ways identified by experts to obtain hydrogen in portable fuel cells is to extract it through steam reforming of propane. However, a major problem is that to do so requires a reactor which is compatible with temperatures of up to 800 °C, otherwise coking of the catalytic structures during reforming may take place.

The new research, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, found that the ruthenium catalyst, in conjunction with ceramic microreactors with a high surface area, could successfully withstand the high temperatures.

Researchers Michael Mitchell and Paul J A Kenis of the University of Illinois in the US, who carried out the tests, concluded: "The performance of the microreactor was not affected after exposure to more than 15 thermal cycles at temperatures as high as 1000 °C."

As such, the ceramic microreactors may be able to be successfully used for on-site hydrogen production from hydrocarbons, which can be used in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd