Patent ID: 8057575

Claim:
A hydrogen-producing fuel processing system, comprising: a steam reforming chamber containing a steam reforming catalyst, wherein the steam reforming chamber is configured to receive a feed stream including methanol and water and produce a reformate stream therefrom, wherein the reformate stream contains hydrogen gas as a majority component and further includes other gases; a membrane module configured to receive the reformate stream and divide the reformate stream into a byproduct stream and a hydrogen-rich stream, the membrane module comprising: a plurality of hydrogen-selective membranes, each being generally planar and having a reformate side and a permeate side, wherein the plurality of hydrogen-selective membranes are spaced-apart from each other and oriented with their permeate sides generally facing each other to define a harvesting conduit extending therebetween, wherein the hydrogen-rich stream is formed from a portion of the reformate stream that passes through the plurality of hydrogen-selective membranes to the harvesting conduit, with a remaining portion of the reformate stream which remains on the reformate side of the plurality of hydrogen-selective membranes forming the byproduct stream, and further wherein the hydrogen-rich stream has a greater concentration of hydrogen gas than the byproduct stream; a support within the harvesting conduit and configured to support the plurality of hydrogen-selective membranes, wherein the support includes a pair of generally opposed surfaces which are configured to provide support to a respective one of the permeate sides of the plurality of hydrogen-selective membranes; and a product outlet port in fluid communication with the harvesting conduit and through which the hydrogen-rich stream is withdrawn from the membrane module; and a polishing region configured to reduce a concentration of any carbon monoxide present in the hydrogen-rich stream and to produce a product hydrogen stream therefrom.