Operation of Microreactors for Fuel Conversion

Pfeifer, P., Haas-Santo, K. Gorke, O. (2009). Application and Operation of Microreactors for Fuel Conversion, in Handbook of Micro Process Engineering, Eds. V. Hessel, A. Renken, J.C. Schouten, and J. Yoshida, Vol. 2 Devices, Reactions, Applications, Wiley, 405-420. 

Methane oxidation was the first reaction studied using the AIMS system. The goal was to operate the microreactor under fuel-lean conditions with millisecond contact times (Williams et al, 2005) while achieving high degrees of conversion for O2, which was the limiting reactant. 

Some companies have started to announce the commercial availability of micro-reactor-based fuel processors in the past and present. Additionally, as more and more companies have the intention to explore the potential of microreaction technology for fuel conversion and small-scale electricity production, a commercial breakthrough may therefore be feasible in the future. Fast and efficient heat and mass transfer in microreactors and their operating strategies are prerequisites for such success. However, to obtain commercial breakthrough, a proof of principle in everyday life, i.e. long-term stability of catalysts under operation with real fuel and also of microreactor performance and material over several thousand hours, is still lacking - as for conventional fuel processors also. 

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