Development of 2 kW natural gas reformers for high- and low temperature PEM fuel cells. Phase 1

The goal of the project has been to develop and test small (2 kW) reformers for converting natural gas into hydrogen for use in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell cogen units for single-family houses. Test have been made with 2 different reformers: 1) An imported lab-scale reformer. These tests have given insight in state-of-art on reformer technology and lead to developments concerning BOP and reformate cleaning. The activities have enabled set up of demand specifications for development of compact small-scale reformers for use in connection with PEM fuel-cell based cogen units. 2) A complete reformer and reformate gas cleaning system has been built and tested with respect to high temperature PEM cells. Various reactor flows, temperatures and catalyst set ups have been tested. The results have been a laboratory reformer/fuel processor with efficient reforming of natural gas and reformate gas clean up satisfactory for low temperature and high temperature PEM fuel cells. The project has analysed power and heat consumptions in individual houses as a basis for optimal sizing of such micro cogeneration units. Analysis has also been made concerning optimal operation strategy of such units