Film boiling on a horizontal tube is used to convert methanol and ethylene glycol to synthesis gas and other species by thermal decomposition and catalytic reaction. Methanol reacts on a platinum catalyst to form CO and H-2 in near stoichiometric proportions while ethylene glycol products include additional condensable and soluble species. The influence of catalyst degradation on prolonged operation is suggested as a cause for some of the trends observed. Product yields for thermal decomposition of methanol are quite repeatable while for ethylene glycol significant carbon deposits appear to produce greater variability in the measured product flow rates. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.