The reformer “has the potential to be up to 80% more fuel efficient than today's internal combustion engine technologies and reduce CO2 emissions by up to 45%.” In other words, current ICE has an efficiency of about 20% and current fuel cells has an efficiency of about 60% as in Hondas FCX. The efficiency of the reformer is therefore also 60% so that the system efficiency (reformer plus fuel cell) is 0.6*0.6 = 36%. This is exactly 80% more fuel efficient than the ICE and it saves exactly (1.8*(1-0.45) = 1) 45% of the CO2 per driven mile.

I very much like this idea because it presumably is capable of running on all fuels and thereby it removes the possibly biggest obstacle to making fuel cell cars a commercial reality in the near term within (5-8 years).

They could have been a little more informative. What is the weight of such a reformer? Is it lighter than the solution with compressed hydrogen? Can it be produced for about the same costs as a compressed hydrogen tank? How durable is the reformer?

If it is smaller and lighter than the compressed hydrogen solution then it makes even more sense as a fuel cell range extender in a PHEV. I wish them good luck. It is certainly an assembly of serious companies so maybe good luck is not needed for this project to succeed.

@Max Reid,

About 15 years ago I visited several Japanese customers while employed by a semiconductor company. Both top- and middle-tier consumer electonics companies' R&D divisions were working on a new thing called "optical drives." They had already worked for many years on the technology, and most people said they'll never be commercially viable. Now they're called DVDs.

Print a copy of your post above, put it in an envelope marked "open on November 16, 2022," and put it where you won't lose it. Your prediction may be right, but 15 years is a long time.

In the materials handling market most fork trucks are propane/NG, gasoline, or Electric. Where fuel cells have an advantage is the ability to run in a warehouse where NG and gasoline can't go. With a reformer, this advantage does not exist.

With regards to the idea of on-board reforming. This technology is a great potential bridging technology until the H2 economy develops (if, it develops). But sulphur tolerance, catalyst durability, startup-time, and transience abilities are not small technical issues to overcome.

I say this just to make sure people's expectations are correct. You will not see this technology in your daily life in the near future.

Good writing TR
But 1 question, you wrote fuel cells can go where Gasolene / Natgas cannot go.

But Fuel cell vehicle will also carry Hydrogen and it may not be allowed in such warehouse.

You are correct that this will not be in our lifetime.

When Benz designed the 1st fuel cell vehicle in early 1990's, the fuel cell system occupied the whole compartment of minivan behind the driver, over the last 15 years, they have shrunk it to a small size that fits in a sedan. Still fuel cell is not affordable.

Now this reformer will also be very big and will take many years to shrink it.

By that time, plugin hybrids, bi-fueled vehicles will be very much in place.

At Max Reid,
The reason that NG/Gas Forktrucks can't go into warehouses is not the explosion potential of the fuel but rather the emissions of the exhaust. With a fuel cell powered with pure, pressurized hydrogen the exhaust is not considered dangerous and requires no extra ventalation.
Certain NG/Propane forktrucks can be operated inside but the exchange rate of the air in the warehouse has to be very high.
Electic battery operated forktrucks tend to be the perfered method for this type of material handling application. Most fuel cell companies including Plug Power, Ballard, Nuvera and others all have products aimed at this market. The interesting point of this article is that this particular "product" would not be applicable to in the aforementioned market (Depending on the emission levels and reformer type - most likely Autothermal given that they use heavy fuels)

Roger

Can Exxon give any hint of
* how much this reformer will cost
* what will be its size
* how energy efficient it is in Input / Output ratio.

I dont think they can, since neither Hydrogen nor the Fuel Cell is on the road.

On the other hand, we have
10 million Flexfuel vehicles
7 million CNG powered vehicles
1.4 million Hybrid vehicles
on the road
and the Hybrid community is eagerly waiting for the Plugin, the moment it comes in next 2-3 years, they are going to grab it.

Is the fuelcell anywhere near this.

This whole Hydrogen thing is more to distract people from buying the Affordable Available Alternative Fuel Vehicles.

@ Roger Pham,
I applaud your optimism. I really do. I on the other hand have doubts about the 'availability' of fuel reformers and fuel cells. Anyone who thinks that a heavily hybridized car is expensive will be blown away at the capital and maintenance cost of fuel cells and fuel reformers.

If Honda or anyone else makes this type of technology available it will because of weird economics (like they make more money because the credits the gain from CARB allows them to sell more SUV's out weighs the highly subsidized FC program consisting of 100 leased cars). And of course, the technology won't be for sale - it will be on lease with not possibility to purchase.

True Renewables is the way forward. How we distribute that energy is the question. H2 is a possible energy carrier. So are electrons (i.e. grid)...

==The high efficiency of a FCV is the major advantage of a FCV over that of a NG-ICE.==

Thats not true. They end up about identical in emissions.
http://greyfalcon.net/electriccars3.png

==Plus, when all our energy will come from wind and solar and nuclear energy...==

And why would we waste that energy on something as inefficient as hydrogen?
That would require 4x as many power plants, and massive transmission infrastructure.
http://greyfalcon.net/hydrogen3.png

And if it DOESN'T comes from any of those squeeky clean sources, then it's absolutely horrible.
http://greyfalcon.net/hydrogen2.png

_________

==This whole Hydrogen thing is more to distract people from buying the Affordable Available Alternative Fuel Vehicles.==

I'd actually argue that,
Alternative Fuel Vehicles are a diversion
to distract people from buying Energy Efficient Vehicles,
and demanding higher CAFE laws.
http://greyfalcon.net/cafe.png

A gas guzzler with a "Flex Fuel" sticker on it is just disgusting.
http://greyfalcon.net/n2ostudy.png
http://greyfalcon.net/oregon
http://greyfalcon.net/soy2

What we need is diesels, hybrids, plugin hybrids, series plugin hybrids,
full performance electrics, public transportation, and demand destruction.
Generally increasing the energy efficiency of our transport system.

_

Remember, priority should be put on dealing with Global Warming.
Dealing with Peak Oil is not nearly as important, and often counterproductive.

Roger : I forgot to ask another important question.

In which year will this reformer hit the market.

Honda & Phill were selling a device that will compress and fill the natgas into a vehicle for many years.

How many people have bought it. May be around 1,000

When will this reformer come to market and when will it become affordable. These are BIG ?.

Once again, oil price have touched $95 and tomorrow is the OPEC summit if they promise an increase, oil price may go down, otherwise ...

Roger

When Oil crosses $100 / barrel, people will go scrambling for whatever fuel which is affordable.
Already many are doing.

Since the reformer is not in the market, its a new tech which is still in laboratory.

Roger,
When you can charge an electric car in 1 minute.
And we already have an electric infrastructure large enough to power nearly every car in the country.

Whats the point of hydrogen?

Greyflcn,
Good luck trying to charge an electric car in 1 minute using your home socket. Please kindly calculate the current and voltage required for you to charge a 20 kwh battery pack in 1 minute! This kind of current will cause electrical brown out for the entire neighborhood!

For this reason, we DO NOT have an electric infrastructure large enough to power nearly every car as BEV in the country, in order for them to get charged up as fast as they can be filled with gasoline or hydrogen. Just imagine the amount of copper required for this purpose. For even a 5-minute charge of a 20 kwh battery pack for several cars at the same time, the local charging station will have to be specially equipped with expensive electrical hardware, comparable to the cost if not higher in cost than that of equipping a hydrogen-filling station.

Home H2 filling from NG has an advantage of being able to use the waste heat of methane steam reformation for hot water heating, home heating, and for vapor absorptive cooler in the summer. In this fashion, the efficiency of steam methane reformation is not 60-65% but 80-95%. By contrast, combined-cycle electrical plant is only 55-60% efficient. BEV has ~72% efficiency grid to wheel, where as Honda FCX Clarity has efficiency of 60% tank to wheel.
If most H2-vehicle is filled at home for the most part, then the local H2 station can use an Exxon liquid fuel steam reformation to produce H2 on the spot without any need for transportation of the H2 in trucks or in pipeline.