Micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cells

Abstract

Micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cells operating in fuel-rich combustion exhaust are explored in this work and their benefits in reducing the balance of plant in fuel cell systems is discussed. The current state of performance of these micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cells operating with methane fuel is described and the benefits of operating in propane fuel are explored. An experimental investigation of propane combustion at different fuel/air equivalence ratios is conducted. Temperature measurements of the propane combustion are recorded with thermocouples while the gas species present in the exhaust are measured with a gas chromatograph. Propane is found to have advantages over methane due to a higher upper flammability limit and higher percentages of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, i.e. syngas, generated in the combustion exhaust. A micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cell is tested using the four probe technique in model propane combustion exhaust at different equivalence ratios and temperatures. A method for comparing the performance of the fuel cell in the combustion exhaust to a hydrogen fuel baseline is developed and comparisons are made. The benefits of operating in propane compared to methane are explored with the potential for fuels like propane and butane being distinguished by their higher upper flammability limits and potential for higher concentrations of syngas in the combustion exhaust.

Hybrid Fuel Cell—Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle for CO2 Sequestration-Ready Combined Heat and Power

“…The fuel utilization efficiencies reached during the experiment are significantly higher than those found in literature for FFCs [16,24,42,46]. For example, a fuel utilization of 75% at Φ of 1.2 and 63% at Φ of 2.8 is obtained at an operating voltage of 0.6 V. Low flow rates and the controlled experiment in the furnace are the primary reasons for the high fuel utilization observed.…”

“…This section provides a theoretical model of the FFC, in which performance depends on the fuel-rich equivalence ratio (Φ), defined in Equation (2), as the independent variable. A more detailed FFC model is given in [42]. Here, n CH 4 and n o 2 are molar flow rates of methane and oxygen, respectively.…”

Small-Scale Energy Systems with Gas Turbines and Heat Pumps

“…The fuel utilization efficiencies reached during the experiment are significantly higher than those found in literature for FFCs [16,24,42,46]. For example, a fuel utilization of 75% at Φ of 1.2 and 63% at Φ of 2.8 is obtained at an operating voltage of 0.6 V. Low flow rates and the controlled experiment in the furnace are the primary reasons for the high fuel utilization observed.…”

“…The experimental station launched in Płock, in which the technology for the production of biocomponents derived from oil algae is being developed [40]. For their production, post-production water and CO 2 obtained from refining processes will be used [41,42].…”

Modern Small and Microcogeneration Systems—A Review

“…An example of micro cogeneration system based on an SOFC fuel cell is presented in Figure 45. Due to the high operating temperature (800-1000 • C), SOFC fuel cells can also be combined into systems with other energy sources, such as gas turbines [222][223][224][225][226][227][228][229] and burners [230][231][232][233][234][235]. An example of an SOFC fuel cell coupled to a gas turbine can be seen in Figure 46, while an SOFC fuel cell coupled to an additional heat source in Figure 47.…”