Vehicle on-board fuel reforming

Methanol, CH3OH, may eventually be used directly in a fuel cell without the extra step of reforming to Hj. Such fuel cells are similar to proton exchange membrane fuel cells and are called direct methanol fuel cells (cf. sec- 

As methanol may serve as a substitute for hydrogen in fuel cells and an intermediate fuel that can be used to produce hydrogen, its own production is of relevance and will be discussed in brief. Methanol may be produced from fossil sources such as natural gas or from biological material. 

Conventional steam reforming of natural gas may produce methanol through a reaction of the form 

Gasification could conceivably be performed with heat from (concentrating) solar collectors, for example, in a fluidised bed gasifier maintained at 500°C. A probably more economic alternative is to use some of the biomass to produce the required heat, although this would entail environmental emissions that would have to be controlled. 

Once the producer gas has been cleaned, removing CO2 and Nj (e.g. by cryogenic separation) as well as impurities (the nitrogen), methanol is generated at elevated pressure by the reaction 

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