Patent ID: 7887606

Claim:
A method for starting and normally operating a fuel reforming apparatus wherein an assembled unit of a reformer, the assembled unit including associated instruments of the reformer, is covered with and enclosed by a vessel to form a heat insulating layer there around, an interior of said vessel being utilized as a flow path of combustion gas for the reformer, comprising: burning startup fuel without supply of primary fuel to the reformer so that resultant combustion gas from said burnt startup fuel is heat exchanged with no primary fuel in the reformer and is guided to said flow path while being still hot, whereby the combustion gas flows around and heats a low-temperature shift converter and a CO remover; and supplying the primary fuel to the reformer during normal operation after the completion of start-up so that the combustion gas from the burned fuel is heat exchanged with the primary fuel in the reformer, a water vaporizer and a primary fuel gasifier and is controlled into temperature level of reaction in the shift converter and the CO remover, wherein said reformer comprises a furnace flue arranged centrally inside the vessel configured to flow the combustion gas from a combustor there through; and a plurality of reforming tubes arranged side by side in the flow path of the combustion gas between the furnace flue and the vessel and charged with reforming catalysts configured to flow a source gas there through for reforming of the source gas, and said associated instruments of the reformer include said water vaporizer configured to vaporize water into water vapor through heat of the exhaust gas from the reformer; said low-temperature shift converter configured to lower the gas reformed by the reformer to a required temperature so as to transform CO and H 2 O into CO 2 and H 2 , and said CO remover configured to cool the reformed gas having passed through the shift converter so as to remove CO.