Performance model of molten carbonate fuel cell

A performance model of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), an electrochemical energy conversion device for electric power generation, is discussed. The presumptive ability of the MCFC model is improved and the impact of MCFC characteristics in fuel cell system simulations is investigated. Basic data are obtained experimentally by single-cell tests. A correlation formula based on the experimental data is derived for the cell voltage and the oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressures. Three types of MCFC systems are compared. With regard to fuel utilization, system characteristics using the proposed correlation are very similar to those obtained using a previous model. However, the amount of decrease predicted by the proposed model with respect to system efficiency is larger than that obtained by the previous model at high air utilization