Methanol Steam Reforming for Hydrogen Production

Daniel Palo received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1999, and since that time, he has been a Senior Research Engineer at PNNL. His research and project management work has involved various applications of catalytic and noncatalytic microchannel unit operations, with a particular focus on reforming of various fuels for portable fuel cell applications. Additional areas of interest include microchannel architectures for heat and mass transfer and chemicals production, microreactor-enabled system development, microfabrication, and the integration of micro- and nanotechnologies. Dr. Palo is currently Senior Research and Development Leader at the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute, a joint institute operated by Oregon State University (OSU) and PNNL. He serves as Courtesy Faculty in both Chemical Engineering and Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at OSU. He has been honored with four PNNL Key Contributor awards and has over 20 peer-reviewed publications, including one U.S. Patent, with four additional U.S. and two foreign patent applications pending.

Robert Dagle joined PNNL as a research engineer in 2000 after having received his Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Washington State University. He later obtained his Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering, also from Washington State University, in 2005. His Master's Thesis was titled Fuel Processing Catalysis for Microchannel Applications:  Methanol Steam Reforming and Selective CO Methanation. In 2005, he became a Senior Research Scientist & Engineer. Robert has been granted one U.S. patent, and pending are eleven U.S. and four foreign patent applications. At PNNL, Mr. Dagle has performed research for both industrial and government clients. Much of his research has focused in the area of heterogeneous catalyst development for use in microchannel reactors. He has experience in various catalytic chemical unit operations, include steam reforming of various fuels, catalytic combustion, water-gas shift, selective CO methanation, preferential oxidation of CO, other fuel-processing related operations, oxidation reactions, and catalytic distillation.  

Jamelyn (Jamie) Holladay received his Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 2000, and he has over seven years of research experience. His work involves process intensification and microchannel reactors for energy production. He has worked on miniature power supplies using a fuel processor and fuel cell, heterogeneous catalyst development, steam reforming, semiconductor processing, PEM fuel cells, and battery fabrication/testing. He is engaged in work for DOE (hydrogen production), NASA, DARPA, and other government and commercial clients. He has received two PNNL Key Contributor awards and many outstanding performance awards for his contributions. He has edited a book on process intensification and has over 20 peer-reviewed publications, including two issued U.S. patents and four additional U.S. patent applications.