Recent advances in hydrogen production via autothermal reforming process (ATR): A review of patents and research articles

This review examines recent patents and research articles in autothermal reforming (ATR) of fossil fuels like gasoline, diesel, JP-8 along with renewable fuels such as methanol, ethanol, glycerol, butanol, bio-oils and biodiesel into H gas. The focus of the research was the recent developments in terms of ATR reformer design, ATR fuel processors, reformer start up, and reforming catalysts to determine the opportunities for R&D in this area. The production of H by ATR of fossil fuels has been widely investigated; several catalytic studies based on various noble and non-precious metals like Rh and Ni are available, restricting new investigations. In contrast, H production from bio feedstock like bio-oils, biodie-sel, ethanol, and butanol are very recent and offer considerable room for further investigation.