Hydrogen can be produced from many feedstocks including coal. The objectives of this project are to establish and prove a hydrogen production pathway from coal-derived methanol for fuel cell applications. This progress report is the sixth report submitted to the DOE reporting on the status and progress made during the course of the project. This report covers the time period of January 1-March 31, 2005. This quarter saw progress in four areas. These areas are: (1) Autothermal reforming of coal derived methanol, (2) Catalyst deactivation, (3) Steam reformer transient response, and (4) Catalyst degradation with bluff bodies. All of the projects are proceeding on or slightly ahead of schedule.

Hydrogen can be produced from many feed stocks including coal. The objectives of this project are to establish and prove a hydrogen production pathway from coal-derived methanol for fuel cell applications. This progress report is the second report submitted to the DOE reporting on the status and progress made during the course of the project. This report covers the time period of January 1--March 31, 2004. This quarter saw progress in five areas. These areas are: (1) Internal and external evaluations of coal based methanol and the fuel cell grade baseline fuel; (2) Experimental investigations of heat and mass transfer enhancement methods by flow field manipulation; (3) Design and set up of the autothermal reactor; (4) Steam reformation of Coal Based Methanol; and (5) Initial catalyst degradation studies. All of the projects are proceeding on or slightly ahead of schedule.