This work discussed the benefits of applying a membrane reformer for natural gas conversion of applied to PEM-based microcogeneration system.
It was shown that electrical efficiency is around 43% which is about 9% points higher than traditional four step processing based on steam reforming and subsequent gas purification.
Through an exergy loss analysis and an overall energy balance,
it was possible to deduce that the different optimizations of the integration between fuel processor and FC system, featuring a higher temperature in the reforming stage but also the higher methane conversion taking place in the traditional process,
are the main reasons for the mentioned difference in electrical performance.