Fuel processing for fuel cells and energyrelated applications

This chapter deals with the conversion of fossil and renewable hydrogencontaining energy carriers to hydrogen that is then used as feed mainly for fuel cell applications. Depending on the fuel cell type the primary product of the initial reforming step requires further treatment to remove carbon monoxide and other impurities that is performed by catalytic processes in most practical systems. The entire system of (catalytic) reactors and related balance of plant such as heat exchangers and evaporators and related dosing equipment is named fuel processor. This chapter provides a brief overview over the related chemistry, catalyst, and reactor technology and examples of practical systems.