Emission behaviour of a catalytic burner fuelled with mixtures of hydrogen and methanol

Abstract A catalytic radiant burner was chosen as the process heat source in a fuel cell drive system. The advantage of a catalytic burner is the low level of harmful substances in the flue gas. Besides the production of process heat, another task of the burner is to convert different gas mixtures effectively from the system into CO2 and H2O. The basic burner structure is a ceramic cylinder to which the fuel gas, pre-mixed with air, is internally supplied. On the outer surface of the cylinder, a wire mesh coated with noble metal is provided on which the combustion takes place catalytically. The emission behaviour of the burner was investigated under different operation conditions concerning the gas mixture and the catalyst. From the results, the mechanisms of the formation of pollutants are discussed and the suitability of the burner concept is checked by comparing the measured emissions with the emission standards. The operation condition ranges are determined under which the burner works in the drive system without exceeding the emission standards.