Hydrogen generation by coupling methanol steam reforming with metal hydride hydrolysis

Abstract

Methanol steam reforming (MSR) and hydrolysis of metal hydrides are two important hydrogen generation reactions with complementary characteristics. Coupling of the above two reactions leads to better hydrogen generation performance. The CO₂ generated from MSR can be absorbed by the hydroxide generated from hydrolysis, leading to higher H₂ purity. The hydrolysis heat can be utilized to drive the endothermic MSR reaction. By carrying out MSR on a CaH₂–CuO composite, a hydrogen density of 6.56 wt% based on all the reactants with H₂ purity higher than 99% can be obtained at 250 °C.