The present disclosure is concerned with metal oxide nanowires, and more specifically, to crystalline ruthenium oxide (RuO.sub.2) nanowires, sol-gel synthetic methods for preparing the nanowires, and methods of using the nanowires in metal catalyzed oxidation of small organic molecules.

In a process for producing hydrogen or syngas by methanol cracking, whereby methanol is catalytically decomposed into hydrogen and carbon monoxide in an endothermal reaction, said reaction takes place in a reactor with direct inductive heating in the reaction zone. The heating is obtained by passing an alternating current through a metallic coil located inside the reactor or by using induction heated catalyzed hardware in the shape of a ferromagnetic structure, which is coated with an oxide impregnated with the catalytically active phase.

A device includes: a storage section which stores a solution containing an organic compound; a catalyst holding section to hold a solid catalyst; and a microwave irradiation mechanism which irradiates the solution passing through the catalyst holding section with a microwave, wherein the solid catalyst is a molded catalyst containing a noble metal supported on a carrier that has an average particle diameter larger than 100 m. A hydrogen production method includes irradiating a solution containing an organic compound, the solution passing through a catalyst holding section holding a solid catalyst, with a microwave, the solid catalyst being a molded catalyst containing a noble metal supported on a carrier that has an average particle diameter larger than 100 m. Both device and method do not require a high-temperature heat source, enable easy collection, replacement, of the catalyst, and can be used for production of hydrogen.

Provided is a hydrogen production reactor as a reactor producing a reforming gas including hydrogen, in which a burning unit and a reforming unit are sequentially arranged and spaced apart from each other in a concentric structure based on a raw material transfer pipe positioned at a central axis of the reactor, including a heating raw material transfer pipe supplying a raw material to the burning unit, a burning unit burning the supplied raw material and supplying heat to the reforming unit, a reforming raw material phase change pipe positioned within the burning unit and heating the supplied raw material, and a reforming unit reforming the phase-changed raw material supplied from the reforming raw material phase change pipe, wherein the reforming raw material phase change pipe is provided as a coil surrounding an outer circumferential surface of a lower end of the heating raw material transfer pipe.

A nanocomposite catalyst includes a support, a multiplicity of nanoscale metal oxide clusters coupled to the support, and one or more metal atoms coupled to each of the nanoscale metal oxide clusters. Fabricating a nanocomposite catalyst includes forming nanoscale metal oxide clusters including a first metal on a support, and depositing one or more metal atoms including a second metal on the nanoscale metal oxide clusters. The nanocomposite catalyst is suitable for catalyzing reactions such as CO oxidation, water-gas-shift, reforming of CO.sub.2 and methanol, and oxidation of natural gas.

A hydrogen permeable membrane device is provided that includes a porous ceramic layer having a material that includes zirconia, Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), /Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and/or YSZ /Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and a porous Pd film or porous Pd-alloy film deposited on the a mesoporous ceramic layer.

A multi-tubular chemical reactor includes an igniter for the initiation of gas phase exothermic reaction within the gas phase reaction zones of the tubular reactor units.

Hydrogen purification devices and their components are disclosed. In some embodiments, the devices may include at least one foil-microscreen assembly disposed between and secured to first and second end frames. The at least one foil-microscreen assembly may include at least one hydrogen-selective membrane and at least one microscreen structure including a non-porous planar sheet having a plurality of apertures forming a plurality of fluid passages. The planar sheet may include generally opposed planar surfaces configured to provide support to the permeate side. The plurality of fluid passages may extend between the opposed surfaces. The at least one hydrogen-selective membrane may be metallurgically bonded to the at least one microscreen structure. In some embodiments, the devices may include a permeate frame having at least one membrane support structure that spans at least a substantial portion of an open region and that is configured to support at least one foil-microscreen assembly.

Vortex arc reactor apparatus and method provide a nozzle with converging, throat, and diverging portions. Input structure inputs a reactant and an oxidant into the converging portion. Ignition structure ignites the input reactant and oxidant. A vortex-creating structure creates a vortex of the ignited reactant and oxidant in the converging portion. The input structure, the vortex-creating structure, and the nozzle converging and throat portions are configured to provide a throat-portion-vortex of ignited reactant and oxidant that has an angular velocity which provides (i) negatively-charged particles in an exterior portion of the throat-portion-vortex, (ii) positively-charged particles in an interior portion of the throat-portion-vortex, and (iii) at least one arcing reaction between the positively-charged particles and the negatively-charged particles, to form syngas and at least one aromatic liquid in the nozzle diverging portion. Gas/liquid separation structure is preferably configured to separate the formed syngas from the at least one aromatic liquid.

Hydrogen generation assemblies, hydrogen purification devices, and their components are disclosed. In some embodiments, the devices may include a permeate frame with a membrane support structure having first and second membrane support plates that are free from perforations and that include a plurality of microgrooves configured to provide flow channels for at least part of the permeate stream. In some embodiments, the assemblies may include a return conduit fluidly connecting a buffer tank and a reformate conduit, a return valve assembly configured to manage flow in the return conduit, and a control assembly configured to operate a fuel processing assembly between run and standby modes based, at least in part, on detected pressure in the buffer tank and configured to direct the return valve assembly to allow product hydrogen stream to flow from the buffer tank to the reformate conduit when the fuel processing assembly is in the standby mode.