Production of hydrogen-rich gas via reforming of hydrocarbons is desired for onboard supply of hydrogen to PEMFC applications. Isooctane is used in this study to simulate the reforming of gasoline under autothermal conditions using a steam/carbon ratio equal to 1 and an equivalence ratio equal to 0.32. The reforming has been carried out at temperatures of 600 and 700 degreesC on Ni-Mn, Ni-W and Rh-Ce catalysts supported on alumina mesh. A novel spray-pulsed reactor with fine nozzle is used for providing atomized iso-octane in pulses. The alternate wet and dry conditions improved the catalyst-reactant contact and enhanced the hydrogen production rate. The iso-octane dose was controlled by variation in pulse injection frequency (0.001, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 Hz) and pulse width (2 and 6 ms). The maximum hydrogen yield obtained is 4 mol of hydrogen per mole of iso-octane. Further, the effect of non-thermal plasma in combination with catalyst on reaction was tested under spray-pulse injection of iso-octane. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.