Reformed methanol fuel cell

The tradeoff is that RMFC systems operate at hotter temperatures and therefore need more advanced heat management and insulation.

→Tail gas combustor (TGC) catalytic combustion afterburner or (catalytic combustion) with a platinum-alumina (Pt–Al2O3)[3] catalyst[4][5]→condenser The balance of plant (BOP) consists of any fuel pumps, air compressors, and fans required to circulate the gas and liquid in the system.

For instance, a small system developed by Ultracell for the United States military, [1], has met environmental tolerance, safety, and performance goals set by the United States Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, and is commercially available.

In contrast to diesel or gasoline generators maintenance interval of RMFC systems is usually significantly longer as no exchange of oil-filters and other engine service parts is needed.

So the use of RMFC in off-grid applications (e.g. highway maintenance) and remote areas (e.g. telecom, mountains) is often preferred over diesel gensets.