TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Structure: The reactor comprises an inlet and outlet, and the catalyst and reactor walls define an open channel from inlet to outlet.The fuel source comprises a tank containing methanol.Preferred Catalyst: The catalyst comprises higher weight percent of palladium than ruthenium. EXAMPLE - Palladium/zinc oxide (Pd/ZnO) catalyst was prepared by impregnating palladium nitrate (Pd(NO3)solution on ZnO. After impregnation, catalyst was calcined at 350-550 degreesC. The Pd/ZnO catalyst in powder form was mixed with deionized water, and ball-milled for 24 hours, to obtain coating slurry solution containing catalyst particles. The obtained coating slurry solution was coated on iron-chromium-aluminum-yttrium (Fe-Cr-Al-Y) felt using a wash-coating technique. Before wash-coating, the metal felt was pre-treated by rapid heating to 900 degreesC for 2 hours. The heat-treated felt was wash-coated by dipping the felt into catalyst slurry. Between each coating, the felt coated with catalyst was dried in an oven at 100 degreesC for 1 hour. After final coating step, the catalyst was dried overnight in an oven at 100 degreesC and calcined by heating in air at a rate of 2 degreesC/minute at 300-500 degreesC. The amount of catalyst coated was measured to be 0.1 g catalyst per square inch of felt. The felt coated with catalyst was calcined at 300-500 degreesC for 3 hours, and the engineered catalyst felt was the subjected to an activation treatment at 300-400 degreesC.    The effectiveness of both powdered and engineered catalyst were evaluated by conducting steam reforming experiments in a single channel device which was placed in a tube furnace. Pd/ZnO catalyst with a particle size of 70-100 mesh was packed inside the channel with a length of 2 inches. Reactants were preheated in top zone of furnace, and were introduced into the single channel device in a down-flow mode. Steam reforming of methanol was conducted at fixed contact time, and steam-to-carbon ratio of 1.8/1 at 250-500 degreesC. Effluent flow rate was measured by bubble flowmeter, and product was analyzed using gas chromatography. Steam reforming activities of powdered Pd/ZnO catalyst and engineered catalyst were compared.    The results showed that, under the same conditions, the powdered catalyst showed relatively higher methanol conversion. When specific activity, in terms of mole methanol converted per gram of catalyst per hour was compared, the engineered catalyst was found to be more active. At lower temperature (250-350 degreesC), both engineered and powdered catalysts exhibited similar effectiveness factors, due to less mass transfer limitations. But at higher temperatures (greater than 350 degreesC), where mass transfer limitations were predominating, engineered catalyst showed higher activity and the enhancement increases with temperature. The advantage of using engineered catalyst was also evidenced by lower pressure drop across the catalyst bed, where maximum pressure drop for engineered catalyst was 20 psig, and powder catalyst showed 35 psig pressure drop (lower pressure drop was desired).