A reforming and 
hydrogen purification 
system operating with minimal pressure drop for producing free 
hydrogen from different 
hydrogen rich fuels includes a hydrogen reforming catalyst 
bed in a vessel in communication with a core unit containing a hydrogen permeable selective membrane. The vessel is located within an insulated 
enclosure which forms an air inlet passageway and an exhaust passageway on opposite sides of the vessel. Air and 
raffinate pass through a burner within the air inlet passageway, providing a heated 
flue gas to heat the catalyst to the 
reaction temperature needed to generate free hydrogen from the feedstock. The burner 
flue gas flows laterally over and along the length of the 
bed between the input and output ends of the 
bed. 
Hydrogen is recovered from the core for use by a hydrogen-consuming device such as a fuel 
cell. The remaining unrecovered hydrogen in the reformed gases is contained in 
raffinate and is used to supply process heat via the burner. The exhaust 
flue gas and the inlet air supply pass through a 
recuperator in which the inlet air is heated from the hot 
exhaust gas. The feedstock input line is also coupled to the 
raffinate line and the hydrogen 
recovery line to preheat the feedstock prior to entry into the catalyst bed.