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%.     

Carbon dioxide separation from high temperature fuel cell power plants

High temperature fuel cell technologies, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs), are considered for their potential application to carbon dioxide emission control. Both technologies feature electrochemical oxidisation of natural gas reformed fuels, avoiding the mixture of air and fuel flows and dilution with nitrogen and oxygen of the oxidised products; a preliminary analysis shows how the different mechanism of ion transport attributes each technology a specific advantage for the application to CO₂ separation. The paper then compares in the first part the most promising cycle configurations based on high efficiency integrated SOFC/gas turbine “hybrid” cycles, where CO₂ is separated with absorption systems or with the eventual adoption of a second SOFC module acting as an “afterburner”. The second part of the paper discusses how a MCFC plant could be “retrofitted” to a conventional fossil-fuel power station, giving the possibility of draining the majority of CO₂ from the stack exhaust while keeping the overall cycle electrical efficiency approximately unchanged.     

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.     

MCFC-based CO2 capture system for small scale CHP plants

Carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere are considered among the main reasons of the greenhouse effect. The largest share of CO₂ is emitted by power plants using fossil fuels. Nowadays there are several technologies to capture CO₂ from power plants' exhaust gas but each of them consumes a significant part of the electric power generated by the plant. The Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) can be used as concentrator of CO₂, due to the chemical reactions that occurs in the cell stack: carbon dioxide entering into the cathode side is transported to the anode side via CO₃⁼ ions and is finally concentrated in the anodic exhaust. MCFC systems can be integrated in existing power plants (retro fitting) to separate CO₂ in the exhaust gas and, at the same time, produce additional energy. The aim of this study is to find a feasible system design for medium scale cogeneration plants which are not considered economically and technically interesting for existing technologies for carbon capture, but are increasing in numbers with respect to large size power plants. This trend, if confirmed, will increase number of medium cogeneration plants with consequent benefit for both MCFC market for this application and effect on global CO₂ emissions. System concept has been developed in a numerical model, using AspenTech engineering software. The model simulates a plant, which separates CO₂ from a cogeneration plant exhaust gases and produces electric power. Data showing the effect of CO₂ on cell voltage and cogenerator exhaust gas composition were taken from experimental activities in the fuel cell laboratory of the University of Perugia, FCLab, and from existing CHP plants. The innovative aspect of this model is the introduction of recirculation to optimize the performance of the MCFC. Cathode recirculation allows to decrease the carbon dioxide utilization factor of the cell keeping at the same time system CO₂ removal efficiency at high level. At anode side, recirculation is used to reduce the fuel consumption (due to the unreacted hydrogen) and to increase the CO₂ purity in the stored gas. The system design was completely introduced in the model and several analyses were performed. CO₂ removal efficiency of 63% was reached with correspondent total efficiency of about 35%. System outlet is also thermal power, due to the high temperature of cathode exhaust off gases, and it is possible to consider integration of this outlet with the cogeneration system. This system, compared to other post-combustion CO₂ removal technologies, does not consume energy, but produces additional electrical and thermal power with a global efficiency of about 70%.     

Solar energy powered Rankine cycle using supercritical CO2

A solar energy powered Rankine cycle using supercritical CO₂ for combined production of electricity and thermal energy is proposed. The proposed system consists of evacuated solar collectors, power generating turbine, high-temperature heat recovery system, low-temperature heat recovery system, and feed pump. The system utilizes evacuated solar collectors to convert CO₂ into high-temperature supercritical state, used to drive a turbine and thereby produce mechanical energy and hence electricity. The system also recovers heat (high-temperature heat and low-temperature heat), which could be used for refrigeration, air conditioning, hot water supply, etc. in domestic or commercial buildings. An experimental prototype has been designed and constructed. The prototype system has been tested under typical summer conditions in Kyoto, Japan; It was found that CO₂ is efficiently converted into high-temperature supercritical state, of while electricity and hot water can be generated. The experimental results show that the solar energy powered Rankine cycle using CO₂ works stably in a trans-critical region. The estimated power generation efficiency is 0.25 and heat recovery efficiency is 0.65. This study shows the potential of the application of the solar-powered Rankine cycle using supercritical CO₂.     

Technologies for increasing CO2 concentration in exhaust gas from natural gas-fired power production with post-combustion, amine-based CO2 capture

Enhanced CO₂ concentration in exhaust gas is regarded as a potentially effective method to reduce the high electrical efficiency penalty caused by CO₂ chemical absorption in post-combustion capture systems. The present work evaluates the effect of increasing CO₂ concentration in the exhaust gas of gas turbine based power plant by four different methods: exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), humidification (EvGT), supplementary firing (SFC) and external firing (EFC). Efforts have been focused on the impacts on cycle efficiency, combustion, gas turbine components, and cost. The results show that the combined cycle with EGR has the capability to change the molar fraction of CO₂ with the largest range, from 3.8 mol% to at least 10 mol%, and with the highest electrical efficiency. The EvGT cycle has relatively low additional cost impact as it does not require any bottoming cycle. The externally fired method was found to have the minimum impacts on both combustion and turbomachinery.     

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.     

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.     

Design of CO2 absorption plant for recovery of CO2 from flue gases of gas turbine

The ongoing human-induced emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) threatens to change the earth's climate. A major factor in global warming is CO₂ emission from thermal power plants, which burn fossil fuels. One possible way of decreasing CO₂ emissions is to apply CO₂ removal, which involves recovering of CO₂ from energy conversion processes. This study is focused on recovery of CO₂ from gas turbine exhaust of Sarkhun gas refinery power station. The purpose of this study is to recover the CO₂ with minimum energy requirement. Many of CO₂ recovery processes from flue gases have been studied. Among all CO₂ recovery processes which were studied, absorption process was selected as the optimum one, due to low CO₂ concentration in flue gas. The design parameters considered in this regard, are: selection of suitable solvent, solvent concentration, solvent circulation rate, reboiler and condenser duty and number of stages in absorber and stripper columns. In the design of this unit, amine solvent such as, diethanolamine (DEA), diglycolamine (DGA), methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), and monoethanolamine (MEA) were considered and the effect of main parameters on the absorption and stripping columns is presented. Some results with simultaneous changing of the design variables have been obtained. The results show that DGA is the best solvent with minimum energy requirement for recovery of CO₂ from flue gases at atmospheric pressure.     

Performance of an oxy-fuel combustion CO2 power cycle including blade cooling

The guiding idea behind oxy-fuel combustion power cycles is guaranteeing a high level of performance as can be obtained by today's advanced power plants, together with CO₂ separation in conditions ready for transport and final disposal. In order to achieve all these goals, oxy-combustion – allowing CO₂ separation by simple cooling of the combustion products – is combined with large heat recovery and staged expansions/compressions, making use of new components, technology and materials upgraded from modern gas turbine engines. In order to provide realistic results, the power plant performance should include the effects of blade cooling. In the present work an advanced cooled expansion model has been included in the model of the MATIANT cycle in order to assess the effects of blade cooling on the cycle efficiency. The results show that the penalty in efficiency due to blade cooling using steam from the heat recovery boiler is about 1.4 percentage points, mainly due to the reheat of the steam, which, on the other hand, leads to an improvement in specific work of about 6%.     

Towards the hydrogen era using near-zero CO2 emissions energy systems

In this paper, the integration of a solid oxide fuel cell operating at a very high temperature (900–1000 °C, 55–60% efficiency) in a near-zero emission power cycle is presented. A more efficient and powerful hybrid near-zero emission CO₂/O₂ cycle is obtained with a CO₂ release as small as 6 g CO₂/kW h_e. Based on a trade-off analysis, the net efficiency is around 47–48%, similar to a current one-pressure level natural gas fired combined cycle, and the power output (940 kW_e) is increased by 66% compared to the so-called E-MATIANT cycle but currently at a much higher cost than those of other known zero-emission power cycles.     

Optimizing CO2 avoided cost by means of repowering

Repowering fossil fuel power plants by means of gas turbines has been traditionally considered to increase power output and reduce NOx and SO₂ emissions both at low cost and short outage periods. At present, reduction in CO₂ emissions represents an additional advantage of repowering due to partial fuel shift and overall efficiency increase. This is especially important in existing installations with a CO₂ reduction mandatory that should be carried out in a short time and in a cost-effective manner.     

Exergy analysis of the recuperative auto thermal reforming (R-ATR) and recuperative reforming (R-REF) power cycles with CO2 removal

Two relatively innovative gas turbine (GT) based power cycles with high CO₂ removal potential have been proposed and discussed in terms of exergy analysis. Fuel decarbonisation is applied by the means of auto thermal reforming (R-ATR) and simple reforming (R-REF), in order to convert the primary natural gas into a highly H₂ and CO₂ concentrated fuel. Thus, CO₂ is captured with amine chemical absorption into a specific unit and, finally, the decarbonised fuel is sent to the GT combustion chamber. No bottoming steam cycle is included, which should promote the size flexibility of the powerplant. The heat content of GT exhausts is employed partially to sustain the endothermic reforming reactions and partially for cycle recuperation. Moreover, the possibility of steam blade cooling has been investigated.The efficiency is optimised at low pressure ratios (7–10) in the steam cooled R-ATR, whereas higher values have been found in air cooled version (16–17). Generally, the R-ATR solution shows higher efficiency levels, mainly due to the reduced combustion chamber and CO₂ capture exergy destruction and higher cycle recuperation degree.The exergy analysis showed a relatively limited influence of combustion chamber losses on the primary fuel exergy input (20–23%). The relative loss of CO₂ removal unit is limited as well (5–7%) when compared with values of semi-closed GT configurations. The exergy destruction of R-ATR and R-REF CO₂ removal sections is greatly reduced if steam blade cooling is adopted. Generally, all the proposed cycles showed satisfactory values of efficiency (43–46% under optimised conditions) taking into account that they do not involve combined power plants.     

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.     

Comparative analysis of energy requirements of CO2 removal from metallurgical fuel gases

The paper presents preliminary results of the analysis concerning a CO₂ removal process, applied to metallurgical fuel gases: blast-furnace gas and Corex gas. The CO₂ removal is realised by the physical absorption process with the Selexol solvent as the absorbing liquid. The analysis is focused on the energy consumption in the case of such installations, when blast-furnace gas or Corex gas are supposed to be treated. The CO₂ removal from metallurgical gases can be attractive from both technological and environmental points of view. Decreased CO₂ content in the gases and increased lower heating value (LHV) results in better conditions for its utilisation e.g. in a gas turbine-based combined heat and power (CHP) plant or direct utilisation within the process, e.g. as an auxiliary fuel or reducing gas in a blast furnace. As the composition, flow rate and LHV of the raw blast furnace and Corex gases differ strongly, the physical absorption installation has different requirements and operation parameters in the two cases. The optimisation leads to minimal energy consumption with the assumed CO₂ removal efficiency. The results indicate which technology of pig-iron production has greater potential in the field of mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, with respect to the technological possibilities of utilisation of the treated fuel gases.     

Boiling coal in water: Hydrogen production and power generation system with zero net CO2 emission based on coal and supercritical water gasification

Coal is the single most important fuel for power generation today. Nowadays, most coal is consumed by means of “burning coal in air” and pollutants such as NO_x, SO_x, CO₂, PM2.5 etc. are inevitably formed and mixed with excessive amount of inner gases, so the pollutant emission reduction system is complicated and the cost is high. IGCC is promising because coal is gasified before utilization. However, the coal gasifier mostly operates in gas environments, so special equipments are needed for the purification of the raw gas and CO₂ emission reduction. Coal and supercritical water gasification process is another promising way to convert coal efficiently and cleanly to H₂ and pure CO₂. The gasification process is referred to as “boiling coal in water” and pollutants containing S and N deposit as solid residual and can be discharged from the gasifier. A novel thermodynamics cycle power generation system was proposed by us in State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering (SKLMFPE) of Xi'an jiaotong University (XJTU), which is based on coal and supercritical water gasification and multi-staged steam turbine reheated by hydrogen combustion. It is characterized by its high coal-electricity efficiency, zero net CO₂ emission and no pollutants. A series of experimental devices from quartz tube system to a pilot scale have been established to realize the complete gasification of coal in SKLMFPE. It proved the prospects of coal and supercritical water gasification process and the novel thermodynamics cycle power generation system.     

Stability and coking of direct-methane solid oxide fuel cells: Effect of CO2 and air additions

This paper concerns the stability of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), operated with fuel mixtures of methane–CO₂ and methane–air. Stability, which was evaluated in terms of voltage decrease at constant current density, was affected by coke deposits. Chemically inert anode barrier layers were shown to enhance stability and to slow catalytic endothermic reforming reactions within the Ni–YSZ anode that otherwise caused deleterious temperature variations and cell cracking. Increasing the amount of CO₂ added to CH₄ fuel led to a wider stable operating range, yet had relatively little effect on SOFC performance. Button cells operated at 800 ° C with fuel streams of 75% CH₄ and 25% CO₂ achieved maximum power densities above 1 W/cm². Adding air to methane also increased stability. In the case of air addition, SOFC temperature increased as a consequence of exothermic partial-oxidation reforming chemistry. Models were developed to predict temperature and gas-composition profiles within the button cells. The simulation results were used to assist interpretation of the experimental observations.     

Performance of SOFC coupled with n-C4H10 autothermal reformer: Carbon deposition and development of anode structure

The performance deterioration of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs, Nickel-Yttria stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ)/YSZ/lanthanum doped strontium manganite-YSZ (LSM–YSZ)) coupled with n–C₄H₁₀ steam reformers (SR), autothermal reformers (ATR), or catalytic partial oxidation reformers (CPOX) was examined using an integrated system of a micro-reactor reformer and SOFC unit. The terminal voltage rapidly degraded in CPOX-driven SOFC (oxygen to carbon ratio (OCR) = 0.5) while it was fairly stable for SR-driven SOFC (steam to carbon ratio (SCR) = 2) over 250 h. For ATR-driven SOFC at near the thermoneutral point (OCR = 0.5 and steam to carbon ration (SCR) = 1.3), significant deterioration of the terminal voltage was observed in 100 h of operation. The main precursors of carbon deposition on the SOFC were identified by reformate gas analysis during the tests. In this study, we reveal that the carbon deposition on the SOFC anode can be affected by not only lower-order hydrocarbons (C₁∼C₄), but also by the CO/H₂ gas mixture. The change in electrical conductivity of the Ni-YSZ cermet used for the SOFC anode was investigated under different gas mixtures. To investigate the propensity for carbon deposition by each carbon-containing gas mixture, we defined the ratios of steam to specific carbon (C₁∼C₄ lower-order hydrocarbons and CO) in the reformate gas (SSCR, steam to specific carbon ratio). To inhibit carbon deposition on SOFC anode, the SSCR must be sufficiently high. However, the reformer operates near its maximum efficiency at low SSCR value and the higher the SSCR value, the lower the open circuit voltage and operating power density due to Nernst potential. In this study, a metal-foam supported SOFC single cell (Ni-YSZ/YSZ/Gd-doped ceria (CGO) buffer layer/lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite-samarium doped ceria (LSCF-SDC)), impregnated with catalyst was designed; this novel SOFC was then examined for operation at a low SSCR value of the autothermal reformer conditions (near maximum efficiency of n-C₄H₁₀ reformer and thermal neutral point, SSCR = 0.5, OCR = 0.5 and SCR = 1.3). The voltage for the metal-foam supported SOFC impregnated with 0.5 wt% Rh/CGO remained at a nearly constant value, around 0.8 V, for 200 h under a constant temperature of 750 °C and current load of 250 mA cm⁻².     

Role of energy efficiency standards in reducing CO2 emissions in Germany: An assessment with TIMES

Energy efficiency is widely viewed as an important element of energy and environmental policy. Applying the TIMES model, this paper examines the impacts of additional efficiency improvement measures (as prescribed by the ACROPOLIS project) over the baseline, at the level of individual sectors level as well as in a combined implementation, on the German energy system in terms of energy savings, technological development, emissions and costs. Implementing efficiency measures in all sectors together, CO₂ reduction is possible through substitution of conventional gas or oil boilers by condensing gas boilers especially in single family houses, shifting from petrol to diesel vehicles in private transport, increased use of electric vehicles, gas combined cycle power plants and CHP (combined heat and power production) etc. At a sectoral level, the residential sector offers double benefits of CO₂ reduction and cost savings. In the transport sector, on the other hand, CO₂ reduction is the most expensive, using bio-fuels and methanol to achieve the efficiency targets.     

Preparation and characterization of Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9/Na2CO3 nanocomposite electrolyte for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells

Sm_0.2Ce_0.8O_1.9 (SDC)/Na₂CO₃ nanocomposite synthesized by the co-precipitation process has been investigated for the potential electrolyte application in low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The conduction mechanism of the SDC/Na₂CO₃ nanocomposite has been studied. The performance of 20 mW cm⁻² at 490 °C for fuel cell using Na₂CO₃ as electrolyte has been obtained and the proton conduction mechanism has been proposed. This communication demonstrates the feasibility of direct utilization of methanol in low-temperature SOFCs with the SDC/Na₂CO₃ nanocomposite electrolyte. A fairly high peak power density of 512 mW cm⁻² at 550 °C for fuel cell fueled by methanol has been achieved. Thermodynamical equilibrium composition for the mixture of steam/methanol has been calculated, and no presence of C is predicted over the entire temperature range. The long-term stability test of open circuit voltage (OCV) indicates the SDC/Na₂CO₃ nanocomposite electrolyte can keep stable and no visual carbon deposition has been observed over the anode surface.