Energy and exergy analysis and optimal design of the hybrid molten carbonate fuel cell power plant and carbon dioxide capturing process

2015 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javad Yazdanfar ◽  
Mehdi Mehrpooya ◽  
Hossein Yousefi ◽  
Ali Palizdar
1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Braun ◽  
R. A. Gaggioli ◽  
W. R. Dunbar

A proposed molten carbonate fuel cell power plant design, intended for commercial production by the end of the 1990s and developed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Gas Research Institute, and Energy Research Corporation, has been analyzed with exergy and pinch analysis. The commercial production units, targeted for dispersed power generation markets, are based on an existing demonstration molten carbonate fuel cell power plant design which was demonstrated from 1996–1997. Exergy analysis of the commercial plant design shows the overall, second-law system efficiency to be 53 percent. The principal inefficiency, 17 percent of the total, lies in the catalytic combustor. Another major inefficiency is the stack loss, 14 percent. Heat transfer accounts for approximately 6 percent of the loss. System reconfigurations, incorporating a steam cycle with reheat (System I) and a gas turbine cycle (System II), both with revised heat exchanger networks, for significant improvement are proposed and evaluated. The second-law system efficiency is raised to 66 percent in System I and to 70 percent for System II.


Author(s):  
Ji Ho Ahn ◽  
Tong Seop Kim

Owing to the increasing consumption of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases, interests in highly efficient and low carbon emitting power systems are growing fast. Several research groups have been suggesting advanced systems based on fuel cells and have also been applying carbon capture and storage technology to satisfy the demand for clean energy. In this study, the performance of a hybrid system, which is a combination of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) with oxy-combustion carbon capture and an indirectly fired micro gas turbine (MGT) was predicted. A 2.5MW MCFC system that is used in commercial applications was used as the reference system so that the results of the study could be applicable to practical situations. The ambient pressure type hybrid system was modeled by referring to the design parameters of an MGT that is currently being developed. A semi-closed type design characterized by flow recirculation was adopted for this hybrid system. A part of the recirculating gas is converted into liquefied carbon dioxide and captured for storage at the carbon separation unit. Almost 100% carbon dioxide capture is possible with this system. In these systems, the output power of the fuel cell is larger than in the normal hybrid system without carbon capture because the partial pressure of carbon dioxide increases. The increased cell power partially compensates for the power loss due to the carbon capture and MGT power reduction. The dependence of net system efficiency of the oxy-hybrid on compressor pressure ratio is marginal, especially beyond an optimal value.


Energy ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 117 ◽  
pp. 578-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqiang Duan ◽  
Kun Xia ◽  
Tao Feng ◽  
Shilun Jia ◽  
Jing Bian

Author(s):  
Ji Ho Ahn ◽  
Tong Seop Kim

Owing to the increasing consumption of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases, interests in highly efficient and low carbon emitting power systems are growing fast. Several research groups have been suggesting advanced systems based on fuel cells and have also been applying carbon capture and storage technology to satisfy the demand for clean energy. In this study, the performance of a hybrid system, which is a combination of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) with oxy-combustion carbon capture and an indirectly fired micro gas turbine (MGT), was predicted. A 2.5 MW MCFC system that is used in commercial applications was used as the reference system so that the results of the study could be applied to practical situations. The ambient pressure type hybrid system was modeled by referring to the design parameters of an MGT that is currently being developed. A semi-closed type design characterized by flow recirculation was adopted for this hybrid system. A part of the recirculating gas is converted into liquefied carbon dioxide and captured for storage at the carbon separation unit (CSU). Almost 100% carbon dioxide capture is possible with this system. In these systems, the output power of the fuel cell is larger than in the normal hybrid system without carbon capture because the partial pressure of carbon dioxide increases. The increased cell power partially compensates for the power loss due to the carbon capture and MGT power reduction. The dependence of net system efficiency of the oxy-hybrid on compressor pressure ratio is marginal, especially beyond an optimal value.


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