PURPOSE: To effectively evaporate and reform fuel with a single compact device by feeding fuel to a reaction tube upon evaporating the fuel by directly heating a fuel evaporator with a burner and simultaneously gasifying the fuel by heating the reaction tube with uniformly dispersed heating gas.
CONSTITUTION: Methanol/water fuel mixture fed from a fuel feeding nozzle 2 is evaporated by directly heating a fuel evaporator 1 installed just above a burner 3 of a fuel reforming device 30 and having a heat insulating layer 9 therearound, with the burner 3, and evaporated methanol/water fuel mixture is fed to plural numbers of reaction tube 4 erected vertically on the upper surface of the evaporator 1 along its annular periphery, in which a catalyst layer 5 filled with pelletized catalyst. Simultaneously, combustion gas of the burner is dispersed uniformly through a dispersing plate 12 having many through holes 12a which is controllable by changing the opening area. The gas is allowed to contact uniformly with the external wall of the reaction tube 4 and heated under control. Thus, the gasified fuel is converted at 150W500°C to reformed gas consisting principally of H2. The reformed gas is collected in a collecting section 6 provided at the top of the reforming device, and then discharged from a discharge port 7 to a main body of a fuel cell.
MIZUNO YUTAKA
SUZUKI YASUO
| JPS593003A | 1984-01-09 |