2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Steam reforming of dimethyl ether with temperature-controlled catalytic combustion in a small volume

Research Project

Project/Area Number	20760132
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Thermal engineering
Research Institution	Kyoto University
Principal Investigator	SAITO Motohiro Kyoto University, 工学研究科, 助教 (90314236)
Project Period (FY)	2008 – 2009
Keywords	燃料改質 / 触媒燃焼 / ジメチルエーテル / 水素生成 / 熱収支
Research Abstract	Recently, hydrogen has attracted much attention as a fuel, particularly for fuel cells. If small equipment that can supply hydrogen is realized, its applications can be greatly extended. The steam reforming of dimethyl ether (DME) is expected to be used for the production of hydrogen. In this study, we fabricated a small DME reformer. Catalytic combustion is used as a heat source because the steam reforming of DME is an endothermic reaction. The reformer has the structure of a double tube, in which steam reforming of DME occurs in the outer channel, and the catalytic combustion occurs in the inner channel. At a sufficiently high temperature, DME was almost completely reformed. However, it is necessary to avoid an excessively high temperature because the formation of CO and CH4 increases. Thus, temperature control is important for the steam reforming of DME.

(4 results)