ABSTRACT
Demand for affordable clean energy is ever growing for energy security and sustainable environment as it relates to the societal and economic well-being and prosperity of the current and future generations. Electrochemical systems such as fuel cells are at the forefront of the emerging energy technologies to fulfill the demand. Compared to other fossil fuels, utilization of abundant natural gas in the fuel cells further decreases the carbon footprint and emission of other pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NO X ), sulfur oxide (SO X ), and heavy metal particulates. Economical and reliable processing of natural gas for efficient use in fuel cell systems is one of the crucial steps for the commercial success of the fuel cell systems. In this contribution, we have introduced the advantages of the use of natural gas in fuel cell systems followed by the discussion on different fuel processing methods and challenges.
