Cycle analysis of low and high H2 utilization SOFC/gas turbine combined cycle for CO2 recovery

A major factor in global warming is CO₂ emission from thermal power plants, which burn fossil fuels. One technology proposed to prevent global warming is CO₂ recovery from combustion flue gas and the sequestration of CO₂ underground or near the ocean bed. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can produce highly concentrated CO₂, because the reformed fuel gas reacts with oxygen electrochemically without being mixed with air in the SOFC. We therefore propose to operate multi-staged SOFCs with high utilization of reformed fuel to obtain highly concentrated CO₂. In this study, we estimated the performance of multi-staged SOFCs considering H₂ diffusion and the combined cycle efficiency of a multi-staged SOFC/gas turbine/CO₂ recovery power plant. The power generation efficiency of our CO₂ recovery combined cycle is 68.5%, whereas the efficiency of a conventional SOFC/GT cycle with the CO₂ recovery amine process is 57.8%.     

Study on a novel solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid cycle system with CO2 capture

A novel solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)/gas turbine (GT) hybrid cycle system with CO₂ capture is proposed based on a typical topping cycle SOFC/GT hybrid system. The H₂ gas is separated from the outlet mixture gas of SOFC1 anode by employing the advanced ceramic proton membrane technology, and then, it is injected into SOFC2 to continue a new electrochemical reaction. The outlet gas of SOFC1 cathode and the exhaust gas from SOFC2 burn in the afterburner 1. The combustion gas production of the afterburner1 expands in the turbine 1. The outlet gas of SOFC1 anode employs the oxy‐fuel combustion mode in the afterburner 2 after H₂ gas is separated. Then, the combustion gas production expands in the turbine 2. To ensure that the flue gas temperature does not exceed the maximum allowed turbine inlet temperature, steam is injected into the afterburner 2. The outlet gas of the afterburner 2 contains all the CO₂ gas of the system. When the steam is removed by condensation, the CO₂ gas can be captured. The steam generated by the waste heat boiler is used to drive a refrigerator and make CO₂ gas liquefied at a lower temperature. The performance of the novel quasi‐zero CO₂ emission SOFC/GT hybrid cycle system is analyzed with a case study. The effects of key parameters, such as CO₂ liquefaction temperature, hydrogen separation rate, and the unit oxygen production energy consumption on the new system performance, are investigated. Compared with the other quasi‐zero CO₂ emission power systems, the new system has the highest efficiency of around 64.13%. The research achievements will provide the valuable reference for further study of quasi‐zero CO₂ emission power system with high efficiency. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermoeconomic analysis of pressurized hybrid SOFC systems with CO2 separation

In this paper, the results of the thermodynamic and economic analyses of distributed power generation plants (1.5 MWe) are described and compared. The results of an exergetic analysis are also reported, as well as the thermodynamic details of the most significant streams of the plants. The integration of different hybrid solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system CO₂ separation technologies characterizes the power plants proposed. A hybrid system with a tubular SOFC fed with natural gas with internal reforming has been taken as reference plant. Two different technologies have been considered for the same base system to obtain a low CO₂ emission plant. The first technology involved a fuel decarbonization and CO₂ separation process placed before the system feed, while the second integrated the CO₂ separation and the energy cycle. The first option employed fuel processing, a technology (amine chemical absorption) viable for short-term implementation in real installations while the second option provided the CO₂ separation by condensing the steam from the system exhaust. The results obtained, using a Web-based Thermo Economic Modular Program software, developed by the Thermochemical Power Group of the University of Genoa, showed that the thermodynamic and economic impact of the adoption of zero emission cycle layouts based on hybrid systems was relevant.     

An integrated power generation system combining solid oxide fuel cell and oxy-fuel combustion for high performance and CO2 capture

An integrated power generation system combining solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and oxy-fuel combustion technology is proposed. The system is revised from a pressurized SOFC-gas turbine hybrid system to capture CO₂ almost completely while maintaining high efficiency. The system consists of SOFC, gas turbine, oxy-combustion bottoming cycle, and CO₂ capture and compression process. An ion transport membrane (ITM) is used to separate oxygen from the cathode exit air. The fuel cell operates at an elevated pressure to facilitate the use of the ITM, which requires high pressure and temperature. The remaining fuel at the SOFC anode exit is completely burned with oxygen at the oxy-combustor. Almost all of the CO₂ generated during the reforming process of the SOFC and at the oxy-fuel combustor is extracted from the condenser of the oxy-combustion cycle. The oxygen-depleted high pressure air from the SOFC cathode expands at the gas turbine. Therefore, the expander of the oxy-combustion cycle and the gas turbine provides additional power output. The two major design variables (steam expander inlet temperature and condenser pressure) of the oxy-fuel combustion system are determined through parametric analysis. There exists an optimal condenser pressure (below atmospheric pressure) in terms of global energy efficiency considering both the system power output and CO₂ compression power consumption. It was shown that the integrated system can be designed to have almost equivalent system efficiency as the simple SOFC-gas turbine hybrid system. With the voltage of 0.752 V at the SOFC operating at 900 °C and 8 bar, system efficiency over 69.2% is predicted. Efficiency penalty due to the CO₂ capture and compression up to 150 bar is around 6.1%.     

Study on a zero CO2 emission SOFC hybrid power system integrated with OTM using CO2 as sweep gas

A new zero CO₂ emission solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) hybrid power system integrated with the oxygen ion transport membrane using CO₂ as sweep gas is proposed in this paper. The pure oxygen is picked up from the cathode outlet gas by the oxygen ion transport membrane with CO₂ as sweep gas; the oxy‐fuel combustion mode in the afterburner of SOFC is employed. Because the combustion product gas only consists of CO₂ and steam, CO₂ is easily captured with lower energy consumption by the condensation of steam. With the aspen plus soft, this paper builds the simulation model of the overall SOFC hybrids system with CO₂ capture. The exergy loss distributions of the overall system are analyzed, and the effects of the key operation parameters on the overall system performance are also investigated. The research results show that the new system still has a high efficiency after CO₂ recovery. The efficiency of the new system is around 65.03%, only 1.25 percentage points lower than that of the traditional SOFC hybrid power system(66.28%)without CO₂ capture. The research achievements from this paper will provide the valuable reference for further study on zero CO₂ emission SOFC hybrid power system with higher efficiency. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design and eco-technoeconomic analyses of SOFC/GT hybrid systems accounting for long-term degradation effects

This study compares two SOFC/GT (solid oxide fuel cell with gas turbine) hybrid systems to that of two standalone SOFC systems via eco-technoeconomic analyses that account for long-term degradation effects. Four cases were examined: 1) standalone SOFC plant without a steam bottoming cycle; 2) standalone SOFC plant with a steam bottoming cycle; 3) SOFC/GT hybrid plant without a steam bottoming cycle; and 4) SOFC/GT with a steam bottoming cycle. This study employed a real-time 1D SOFC model with an empirical degradation calculation integrated with steady-state balance-of-plant models. Simulations used Matlab Simulink R2017a, Aspen Plus V10, and Python 3.7.4 with a pseudo steady-state approach. The results showed that, with some trade-offs, the SOFC/GT hybrid plant with the steam bottoming cycle is the best option, with an overall efficiency of 44.6% _LHV, an LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) of $US 77/MWh, and a CCA (cost of CO₂ avoided) of -$US 49.3/tonneCO₂e. The sensitivity analysis also indicated that SOFC/GT hybrid plants were less sensitive to SOFC price compared to standalone SOFC plants. The sensitivity analysis indicated that using a larger gas turbine and replacing the SOFC stack less frequently was the better design choice for the SOFC/GT hybrid plant.     

Dealing with fuel contaminants in biogas-fed solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) plants: Degradation of catalytic and electro-catalytic active surfaces and related gas purification methods

Fuel cell and hydrogen technologies are re-gaining momentum in a number of sectors including industrial, tertiary and residential ones. Integrated biogas fuel cell plants in wastewater treatment plants and other bioenergy recovery plants are nowadays on the verge of becoming a clear opportunity for the market entry of high-temperature fuel cells in distributed generation (power production from a few kW to the MW scale).High-temperature fuel cell technologies like molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are especially fit to operate with carbon fuels due to their (direct or indirect) internal reforming capability. Especially, systems based on SOFC technology show the highest conversion efficiency of gaseous carbon fuels (e.g., natural gas, digester gas, and biomass-derived syngas) into electricity when compared to engines or gas turbines. Also, lower CO₂ emissions and ultra-low emissions of atmospheric contaminants (SO_X, CO, VOC, especially NO_X) are generated per unit of electricity output. Nonetheless, stringent requirements apply regarding fuel purity. The presence of contaminants within the anode fuel stream, even at trace levels (sometimes ppb levels) can reduce the lifetime of key components like the fuel cell stack and reformer. In this work, we review the complex matrix (typology and amount) of different contaminants that is found in different biogas types (anaerobic digestion gas and landfill gas). We analyze the impact of contaminants on the fuel reformer and the SOFC stack to identify the threshold limits of the fuel cell system towards specific contaminants. Finally, technological solutions and related adsorbent materials to remove contaminants in a dedicated clean-up unit upstream of the fuel cell plant are also reviewed.     

Multiobjective optimization for exergoeconomic analysis of an integrated cogeneration system

In this paper, a novel cogeneration system integrating Kalina cycle, CO₂ chemical absorption, process, and flash‐binary cycle is proposed to remove acid gases in the exhaust gas of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system, improve the waste heat utilization, and reduce the cold energy consumed during CO₂ capture. In the CO₂ chemical absorption process, the methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) aqueous solution is utilized as a solvent, and feed temperature and absorber pressure are optimized via Aspen Plus software. The single‐objective and multiobjective optimization are carried out for the flash‐binary cycle subsystem. Results show that when the multiobjective optimization is applied to identify the exergoeconomic condition, the cogeneration system can simultaneously satisfy the high thermodynamic cycle efficiency and also the low product unit cost. The optimal results of the exergy efficiency, product unit cost, and normalized CO₂ emissions obtained by Pareto chart were 75.84%, 3.248 $/GJ, and 13.14 kg/MWhr, respectively.     

Lignite as a fuel for direct carbon fuel cell system

Lignite, also known as brown coal, and char derived from lignite by pyrolysis were investigated as fuels for direct carbon solid oxide fuel cells (DC-SOFC). Experiments were carried out with 16 cm² active area, electrolyte supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), using pulverized solid fuel directly fed to DC-SOFC anode compartment in a batch mode, fixed bed configuration. The maximum power density of 143 mW/cm² was observed with a char derived from lignite, much higher than 93 mW/cm² when operating on a lignite fuel. The cell was operating under electric load until fuel supply was almost completely exhausted. Reloading fixed lignite bed during a thermal cycle resulted in a similar initial cell performance, pointing to feasibility of fuel cell operation in a continuous fuel supply mode. The additional series of experiments were carried out in SOFC cell, in the absence of solid fuels, with (a) simulated CO/CO₂ gas mixtures in a wide range of compositions and (b) humidified hydrogen as a reference fuel composition for all cases considered. The solid oxide fuel cell, operated with 92%CO + 8%CO₂ gas mixture, generated the maximum power density of 342 mW/cm². The fuel cell performance has increased in the following order: lignite (DC-SOFC) < char derived from lignite (DC-SOFC) < CO + CO₂ gas mixture (SOFC) < humidified hydrogen (SOFC).     

Techno-economic assessment on the fuel flexibility of a commercial scale combined cycle gas turbine integrated with a CO2 capture plant

Post-combustion carbon capture is a valuable technology, capable of being deployed to meet global CO₂ emissions targets. The technology is mature and can be retrofitted easily with existing carbon emitting energy generation sources, such as natural gas combined cycles. This study investigates the effect of operating a natural gas combined cycle plant coupled with carbon capture and storage while using varying fuel compositions, with a strong focus on the influence of the CO₂ concentration in the fuel. The novelty of this study lies in exploring the technical and economic performance of the integrated system, whilst operating with different fuel compositions. The study reports the design of a natural gas combined cycle gas turbine and CO₂ capture plant (with 30 wt% monoethanolamine), which were modelled using the gCCS process modelling application. The fuel compositions analysed were varied, with focus on the CO₂ content increasing from 1% to 5%, 7.5% and 10%. The operation of the CO₂ capture plant is also investigated with focus on the CO₂ capture efficiency, specific reboiler duty and the flooding point. The economic analysis highlights the effect of the varying fuel compositions on the cost of electricity as well as the cost of CO₂ avoided. The study revealed that increased CO₂ concentrations in the fuel cause a decrease in the efficiency of the natural gas combined cycle gas turbine; however, rising the CO₂ concentration and flowrate of the flue gas improves the operation of the capture plant at the risk of an increase in the flooding velocity in the column. The economic analysis shows a slight increase in cost of electricity for fuels with higher CO₂ contents; however, the results also show a reduction in the cost of CO₂ avoided by larger margins.     

The effects of fuel variability on the electrical performance and durability of a solid oxide fuel cell operating on biohythane

Biohythane is typically composed of 60/30/10 vol% CH₄/CO₂/H₂ and can be produced via two-stage anaerobic digestion of renewable and low carbon biomass with much greater efficiency compared with CH₄/CO₂ biogas. This work investigates the effects of fuel variability on the electrical performance and fuel processing of a commercially available anode supported solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) operating on biohythane mixtures at 750 °C. Cell electrical performance was characterised using current-voltage curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Fuel processing was characterised using quadrupole mass spectroscopy. It is shown that when H₂/CO₂ is blended with CH₄ to make biohythane, the SOFC efficiency is significantly increased, high SOFC durability is achieved, and there are considerable savings in CH₄ consumption. Enhanced electrical performance was due to the additional presence of H₂ and promotion of CH₄ dry reforming, the reverse Boudouard and reverse water-gas shift reactions. These processes alleviated carbon deposition and promoted electrochemical oxidation of H₂ as the primary power production pathway. Substituting 50 vol% CH₄ with 25/75 vol% H₂/CO₂ was shown to increase cell power output by 81.6% at 0.8 V compared with pure CH₄. This corresponded to a 3.4-fold increase in the overall energy conversion efficiency and a 72% decrease in CH₄ consumption. A 260 h durability test demonstrated very high cell durability when operating on a typical 60/30/10 vol% CH₄/CO₂/H₂ biohythane mixture under high fuel utilisation due to inhibition of carbon deposition. Overall, this work suggests that decarbonising gas grids by substituting natural gas with renewably produced H₂/CO₂ mixtures (rather than pure H₂ derived from fossil fuels), and utilising in SOFC technology, gives considerable gains in energy conversion efficiency and carbon emissions savings.     

Sensitivity analysis of the MATIANT cycle

In this paper, a novel technology based on the zero CO₂ emission MATIANT cycle is presented. This latter is basically a regenerative gas cycle operating on CO₂ as the working fluid and using O₂ as the fuel oxidizer in the combustion chambers. The cycle uses the highest temperatures and pressures compatible with the most advanced materials in the steam and gas turbines and in the heat exchangers. In addition, a reheat and a staged compression and with intercooling are used. Therfore the optimized cycle efficiency is around 45% when operating on natural gas. A big asset of the system is its ability to remove the CO₂ produced in the combustion process in liquid or supercritical state and at high pressure, without any costly and energy consuming system like “end-of-pipe” MEA scrubbers or membranes. CO₂ is then ready for transportation, for reuse or for final storage. In this respect, there is a possible integration of the CO₂ storage with the MATIANT power generation plant, unlike conventional CO₂ capture, providing gaseous CO₂ at atmospheric pressure. In the same way, other contaminants like NO_x remain under control and are not released to the atmosphere.In this study, the cycle performances are calculated and a sensitivity analysis of the cycle is performed when the free parameters are varied. The optimal design point is then obtained for given internal constrains and boundary conditions.     

Performance analysis and modeling of energy from waste combined cycles

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is produced in a substantial amount with minimal fluctuations throughout the year. The analysis of carbon neutrality of MSW on a life cycle basis shows that MSW is about 67% carbon-neutral, suggesting that only 33% of the CO₂ emissions from incinerating MSW are of fossil origin. The waste constitutes a “renewable biofuel” energy resource and energy from waste (EfW) can result in a net reduction in CO₂ emissions. In this paper, we explore an approach to extracting energy from MSW efficiently – EfW/gas turbine hybrid combined cycles. This approach innovates by delivering better performance with respect to energy efficiency and CO₂ mitigation. In the combined cycles, the topping cycle consists of a gas turbine, while the bottoming cycle is a steam cycle where the low quality fuel – waste is utilized. This paper assesses the viability of the hybrid combined cycles and analyses their thermodynamic advantages with the help of computer simulations. It was shown that the combined cycles could offer significantly higher energy conversion efficiency and a practical solution to handling MSW. Also, the potential for a net reduction in CO₂ emissions resulting from the hybrid combined cycles was evaluated.     

Design of highly efficient coal-based integrated gasification fuel cell power plants

Integrated gasification fuel cell (IGFC) technology combining coal gasification and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is believed to be the only viable solution to achieving U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s performance goal for next generation coal-based power plants, producing electricity at 60% efficiency (coal HHV-AC) while capturing more than 90% of the evolved CO₂. Achieving this goal is challenging even with high performance SOFCs; design concepts published to date have not demonstrated this performance goal. In this work an IGFC system concept consisting of catalytic hydro-gasification, proven low-temperature gas cleaning and hybrid fuel cell-gas turbine power block (with SOFC operating at about 10 bar) is introduced. The system is demonstrating an electricity efficiency greater than 60% (coal HHV basis), with more than 90% of the carbon present in the syngas separated as CO₂ amenable to sequestration. A unique characteristic of the system is recycling de-carbonized, humidified anode exhaust back to the catalytic hydro-gasifier for improved energy integration. Alternative designs where: (1) anode exhaust is recycled directly back to SOFC stacks, (2) SOFC stack operating pressure is reduced to near atmospheric and (3) methanation reactor in the reactor/expander topping cycle is removed, have also been investigated and the system design and performance differences are discussed.     

Study on zero CO2 emission atmospheric pressure SOFC hybrid power system integrated with OTM

In order to further reduce the energy consumption of CO₂ capture from the traditional SOFC hybrid power system, based on the principle of energy cascade utilization and system integration, a zero CO₂ emission atmospheric pressure solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) hybrid power system integrated with oxygen ion transport membrane (OTM) is proposed. The oxygen is produced by the OTM for the oxy‐fuel combustion afterburner of SOFC. With the Aspen‐plus software, the models of the overall SOFC hybrid power systems with or without CO₂ capture are developed. The thermal performance of new system is investigated and compared with other systems. The effects of the fuel utilization factor of SOFC and the pressure ratio between two sides of OTM membrane on the overall system performance are analyzed and optimized. The research results show that the efficiency of the zero CO₂ emission atmospheric pressure SOFC hybrid power system integrated with OTM is around 58.36%, only 2.48% lower than that of the system without CO₂ capture (60.84%) but 0.96% higher than that of the zero CO₂ emission atmospheric pressure SOFC hybrid system integrated with the cryogenic air separation unit. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental analysis of bio-CCS in an integrated oxy-fuel combustion power plant with CO2 transport and storage

Oxy-fuel combustion (OFC) belongs to one of the three commonly known clean coal technologies for which practical application may be in the offing. Similarly to conventional power plants, there is a possibility of biomass co-firing, thus an additional reduction of CO₂ emission is possible. Including the biomass in the fuel mixture of an integrated OFC power plant allows to obtain the so called “neutral” CO₂ status as biomass combustion does not contribute to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. In OFC power plants without biomass co-firing, even if 100% of CO₂ is captured, there are still additional CO₂ emissions in processes like fossil fuel extraction, transportation and preparation. The same assumption applies also to biomass and other materials (e.g. limestone or raw water). A higher share of biomass in the fuel mixture can lead to “negative” CO₂ emissions with may be helpful to compensate the unfulfilled goals in other sectors where reduction is required. The paper presents the system approach to the environmental analysis based on the “input–output” method and both the index of the thermoecological cost and cumulative CO₂ emissions. Thermoecological cost includes, the cumulative exergy consumption of non-renewable energy sources and additional exergy consumption due to harmful emissions to the atmosphere. In order to investigate the impact of bio-CCS (both biomass co-firing and dedicated biomass boilers) on the net thermoecological cost of electricity production and cumulative CO₂ emissions five cases have been analyzed.     

The air membrane-ATR integrated gas turbine power cycle: A method for producing electricity with low CO2 emissions

The air membrane-auto thermal reforming (AM-ATR) gas turbine cycle combines features of the R-ATR power cycle, introduced at the University of Florence, with ceramic, air separation membranes to achieve a novel combined cycle process with fuel decarbonisation and near-zero CO₂ emissions. Within this process, the natural gas fuel is converted to H₂ and CO through the auto thermal reforming process (ATR), i.e. combined partial oxidation and steam methane reforming, within the air separation membrane reactor. In a subsequent process unit, the H₂ content of the reformed fuel is enriched by the well known CO–CO₂ shift reaction. This fuel is then sent to an amine based carbon dioxide removal unit and, finally, to two combustors: the first one is located upstream of the membrane reformer (in order to achieve the required working temperature) and the second one is downstream of the membrane to reach the desired turbine inlet temperature (TIT).The main advantage of the proposed concept over other decarbonisation processes is the coupling of the membrane and the ATR reactor. This coupling greatly reduces the mass flow of syngas with respect to the air blown ATR contained in the previously proposed R-ATR, thus lowering the size of the syngas treatment section. Furthermore, as the oxygen production is integrated at high temperatures in the power cycle, the efficiency penalty of producing oxygen is much smaller than for the traditional cryogenic oxygen separation. The main advantages over other integrated GT-membrane concepts are the lower membrane operating temperature, lower levels of required air separation at high partial pressure driving forces (leading to lower membrane surface areas) and the possibility to achieve a higher TIT with top firing without increasing CO₂ emissions. When compared to power plants with tail end CO₂ separation, the CO₂ removal process treats a gas at pressure and with a significantly higher CO₂ concentration than that of gas turbine exhausts, which allows a compact carbon dioxide removal unit with a lower energy penalty.Starting from the same basis, various configurations were considered and optimised, all of which targeted a 65 MW power output combined cycle. The efficiency level achieved is around 45% (including recompression of the separated CO₂), which is roughly 10% less than the reference GT-CC plant (without CO₂ removal). A significant part of the efficiency penalty (4.3–5.6% points) is due to the fuel reforming, whereas further penalties come from the recompression units, loss of working fluid through the expander and the steam extracted for the ATR reactor and CO₂ separation. The specific CO₂ emissions of the MCM-ATR are about 120 kg CO₂/kWh, representing 30% of the emissions without CO₂ removal. This may be reduced to 10–15% with a better design of the shift reactors and the CO₂ removal unit. Compared to other concepts with air membrane technology, such as the AZEP concept, the efficiency loss is much greater when used for fuel de-carbonisation than for previous integration options.     

A high fuel utilizing solid oxide fuel cell cycle with regard to the formation of nickel oxide and power density

Within this study a novel high fuel utilizing (High-uf) SOFC system is presented with special focus on the formation of nickel oxide, system efficiency and the required cell area at a fixed system performance of 1 MW. Within the High-uf SOFC cycle, a second SOFC stack is used to utilize a further part of the residual hydrogen of the first SOFC stack. This could be feasible by using an anode gas condenser, which is implemented between the first and the second stack. This reduces the water fraction of the anode gas and thereby the tendency of nickel oxide formation in case of a further fuel utilization. Thus, a higher total fuel utilization can be reached with the second SOFC stack.     

Is steam addition necessary for the landfill gas fueled solid oxide fuel cells?

Landfill gas in Hong Kong – a mixture of about 50% (by volume) CH₄ and 50% CO₂ – can be utilized for power generation in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Conventional way of utilizing CH₄ in a SOFC is by adding H₂O to CH₄ to initiate methane steam reforming (MSR) and water gas shift reaction (WGSR). As the methane carbon dioxide reforming (MCDR: CH₄ + CO₂ ↔ 2CO + 2H₂) is feasible in the SOFC anode, it is unknown whether H₂O is needed or not for landfill gas fueled SOFC. In this study, a numerical model is developed to investigate the characteristics of SOFC running on landfill gas. Parametric simulations show that H₂O addition may decrease the performance of short SOFC at typical operating conditions as H₂O dilute the fuel concentration. However, it is interesting to find that H₂O addition is needed at reduced operating temperature, lower operating potential, or in SOFC with longer gas channel, mainly due to less temperature reduction in the downstream and easier oxidation of H₂ than CO. This preliminary study could help identify strategies for converting landfill gas into electrical power in Hong Kong.     

Modeling electrochemical partial oxidation of methane for cogeneration of electricity and syngas in solid-oxide fuel cells

This paper uses computational models to evaluate strategies for scaling electrochemical partial oxidation (EPOX) processes from the laboratory scale to practical application. In addition to producing electrical energy alone, solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) can be operated with hydrocarbon fuel streams to produce synthesis gas (H₂ and CO) as well. SOFC systems are usually operated to consume most of the fuel and produce electricity. However, by operating with a hydrocarbon fuel at relatively high flow rates, the exhaust-gas composition can be predominantly syngas. In this case the steam (and CO₂), produced from electrochemical and thermal reactions, reacts to reform the hydrocarbon fuel within the catalytic anode support structure. A practical limitation of electrochemical partial oxidation operation is the fact that carbon tends to deposit on Ni-based anode catalysts. The present paper explores the use of barrier layers to prevent carbon deposits. The results show that a tubular cell can be designed to deliver syngas and electricity using methane as the primary fuel.