Steam reforming of hydrocarbons is the dominant route for hydrogen production but is both energy and carbon intensive. A low-carbon alternative is to employ CO derived from electrochemical CO2 reduction in the water gas shift (WGS) reaction, or alternatively using green hydrogen to upgrade CO to methanol for economical storage and transportation. Methanol and CO can be reformed at low temperature (250 – 400 °C) relative to natural gas, but retain challenges associated with equilibrium limitations and subsequent separations. These CapEx-intensive processes are particularly problematic for distributed hydrogen production. Catalytic membrane reformers (CMRs) offer a way to circumvent these limitations via process intensification – the combination of reaction and separation into a single unit allows production of a high purity H2 product while also boosting conversion by directly removing H2 from the reaction environment. CMRs also improve the viability of carbon capture in this process thanks to a CO2-enriched retentate. This work explores methanol steam reforming and the related WGS reaction in Pd-based CMRs at moderate temperatures (≤ 400 °C) over a commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3-based catalyst. We first quantify the activity and stability of the catalyst in a packed bed reactor, relating performance to fundamental measurement of key catalyst properties such as specific surface area and dispersion. Temperature, residence time, and steam to carbon ratio are critical independent variables and we will quantify their impact on conversion and CO2 selectivity, key performance factors important to the implementation of this technology. Having established this baseline we plan to quantify the advantages of CMRs for this application.
