However, when substituting HUSY with HZSM-5 (SiO2/Al2O3 = 38), almost the same results were obtained
irrespective of the mixing methods. These quite different results were explained based mainly on the
acidic properties ofthe zeolites in combination with the two-step reaction mechanism ofthe titled reaction. The effect of the types of Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 and zeolites, weight ratio of Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 to zeolite, and
space velocity on the catalytic performance was quantitatively evaluated. Under optimized conditions,
over 80% hydrogen yield was achieved at 100% DME conversion, indicating that commercial catalysts are
able to give satisfied results. A scheme for hydrogen production for by burning some unconverted DME
outside of the reactor to maintain reaction temperature was proposed and the heat balancing indicated
that the steam reforming of DME is very promising to supply hydrogen for fuel cells.