Compact fuel processor by employing monolithic catalyst for 1 kw class residential polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Abstract

A compact fuel processor for 1 kW class PEFCs was designed with dramatically reduced volume and catalyst amount by employing a monolithic catalyst compared with those for existing conventional ones. Only 0.7 g of precious metal was used for all catalysts. A high thermal efficiency, 82.3% HHV, was achieved at 100% load, with a low pressure drop, 3.6 kPa. The outlet gas, with a composition of 75.0 vol% H2, 19.2 vol% CO2, 2.2 vol% CH4, and 20 ppm CO, was obtained under normal conditions.