Production of hydrogen from dimethyl ether Original Research Article

Catalytic reaction of steam reforming of dimethyl ether (DME) to hydrogen-rich gas was studied in a fixed-bed continuous-flow reactor at a temperature of 200–360°C under atmospheric pressure over a mechanical mixture of catalysts for DME hydration and for methanol steam reforming. It was found that the mechanical mixture of 12-tungstosilicoheteropolyacid deposited on γ-Al2O3 (DME hydration catalyst) and copper deposited on SiO2 (methanol steam reforming catalyst) provided a 100% DME conversion and hydrogen outlet concentration of ∼71 vol.% at 290°C and GHSV ∼1200 h−1.