| abstract |
A method of generating a H 2 rich gas from a fuel includes supplying a mixture of molecular oxygen, fuel, and water to a fuel processor, and converting the mixture of molecular oxygen, fuel, and water in the fuel processor to the H 2 rich gas. The fuel has the formula C n H m O p where n has a value ranging from 1 to 20 and is the average number of carbon atoms per mole of the fuel; m has a value ranging from 2 to 42 and is the average number of hydrogen atoms per mole of the fuel; and p has a value ranging from 0 to 12 and is the average number of oxygen atoms per mole of the fuel. The molar ratio of molecular oxygen supplied to the fuel processor per mole of fuel is a value ranging from about 0.5x 0 to about 1.5x 0 , and the value of x 0 is equal to 0.312n−0.5p+0.5(ΔH f, fuel /ΔH f, water ) where n and p have the values described above, ΔH f, fuel is the heat of formation of the fuel, and ΔH f, water is the heat of formation of water. |