A new sorption enhanced membrane reactor (SEMR), consisting of a packed adsorbent-catalyst bed (10% CuO/CeO2 catalyst and a hydrotalcite-derived Mg-Al mixed oxide) around a tubular Pd/Ag hollow fibre membrane, has been proposed to obtain high purity H-2 and simultaneous capture of CO2 during the water gas shift reaction. For comparison purposes, catalytic activity tests were carried out at atmospheric pressure and operating temperatures between 100 C and 550 C in three different catalytic reactors: (1) a fixed-bed reactor (FBR), (2) a sorption enhanced reactor (SER) and (2) a new SEMR. In all cases, the feed mixture Ar/CO/H2O ratio was 11/1/0.75 with a space velocity of 22 L/g h. The performance of the FBR was used as a reference to compare with the results obtained from the SER and SEMR. The H2 yield at 350 C using the SER was 80%, which is 33% higher than that obtained in the traditional FBR and 18% higher than the corresponding thermodynamic equilibrium. However, due to the high CO/H2O ratio (R > 1), undesirable side-reactions such as C deposition become important at temperatures higher than 400 degrees C. A similar behaviour was observed using the SEMR, however in this case, a high purity CO, free H2 production was obtained. This preliminary study shows relevant data obtained using a SER and the new SEMR, which allows for the better understanding and design of multifunctional catalytic reactors. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.