Patent ID: 7914933

Claim:
A process for producing hydrogen for a fuel cell, said process comprising: a) reacting a fuel comprising a hydrocarbon and/or an oxygenate with steam, under steam reforming conditions in a reforming reactor to produce a product stream comprising hydrogen, b) feeding at least part of the hydrogen produced in step a) to a fuel cell, to produce electric power and a waste stream comprising hydrogen, c) reacting at least part of the waste stream from step b) with an oxygen-containing gas in a combustion reactor positioned within the reforming reactor, d) using a first portion of the heat energy produced in step c) to supply energy to the steam reforming reaction in step a), and e) using a second portion of the heat energy from the effluent emerging from the combustion reactor of step c) to heat a feed to the process, wherein the fuel is pre-treated prior to the reforming step a) by pre-reforming in a pre-reformer to produce methane and further wherein the reforming reactor is positioned within the pre-reformer.