Advanced Chemical Engineering

Reforming of liquid fuels to hydrogen is being considered to enable hydrogen-powered fuel cells
to be used to generate remote power. For example, the military is interested in using hydrogen
fuel cells to replace conventional batteries, which have a low power density and a short lifetime.
Reforming, then, could be used to transform military fuels to hydrogen to power fuel cells.
Autothermal reforming is one means for converting liquid fuels to hydrogen. In this process, the
liquid fuel is reacted with oxygen and water to produce hydrogen. The overall reaction involves
multiple reactions. Assuming that isooctane (2,2,4 trimethyl pentane) is the fuel, the overall
reaction scheme can be written:
C8H18 + 12.5 O2  8 CO2 + 9 H2O
C8H18 + 8 H2O  8 CO + 17 H2
C8H18 + 8 CO2  16 CO + 9 H2
C8H18 + 16 H2O  8 CO2 + 25 H2
CO + H2O  CO2 + H2