Performance of Na2O promoted alumina as CO2 chemisorbent in sorption-enhanced reaction process for simultaneous production of fuel-cell grade H2 and compressed CO2 from synthesis gas

The main objective of this work was to develop fuel reforming technologies to produce a H2-rich synthesis gas to power a solid oxide fuel cell being developed by US DOE for applications like diesel auxiliary power units. In order to accomplish this objective the following efforts were required: 1) examination of the effect of oxygen-conducting supports on reforming catalyst performance, 2) demonstration of the long-term stability under reforming conditions of an oxide powder catalyst deposited onto an oxygen-conducting support, 3) fabrication of a catalyst system by depositing the active catalyst and oxygen-conducting material onto a monolithic support structure for scaled-up reforming tests, 4) demonstration of the scaled-up reforming tests using the monolithic reactor. A successful 1,000-hr diesel reforming test was completed on a powder pyrochlore catalyst developed by NETL deposited onto an oxygen-conducting support. This test demonstrated that the catalyst and support compositions developed have significant potential in a commercial reforming application for the production of synthesis gas. Transforming this powder catalyst into a commercially viable form was the next major step to the development of a usable product. An alumina monolith structure coated with both the oxygen-conducting support and the active pyrochlore phase was fabricated and its performance was validated by short term partial oxidation (POX) tests on pump diesel, and in an integrated reformer-fuel cell test for 100 hrs on a biodiesel fuel under oxidative steam reforming (OSR) conditions.

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Simultaneous Production of Bioethanol and Bioelectricity in a Membrane Less Single Chambered Yeast Fuel Cell by Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and Pichia Fermentans

10.21203/rs.3.rs-405049/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Akansha Shrivastava ◽

Mamta Pal ◽

Rakesh Kumar Sharma

Keyword(s):

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Microbial Fuel Cell ◽

Power Density ◽

Ethanol Yield ◽

Coulombic Efficiency ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Simultaneous Production ◽

Electrochemical Technology

Abstract Production of bioethanol and bioelectricity is a promising approach through microbial electrochemical technology. Sugars are metabolized by yeast to produces ethanol, CO2 and energy. Surplus electrons produced during the fermentation can be transferred through the circuit to generate electricity in a Microbial fuel cell (MFC). In the present study, a membrane less single chambered microbial fuel cell was developed for simultaneous production of bioethanol and bioelectricity. Pichia fermentans along with a well-known ethanol producing yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was allowed to ferment glucose. S. cerevisiae demonstrated maximum open circuit voltage (OCV) 0.287 ± 0.009 V and power density 4.473 mW m− 2 on 15th day, with a maximum ethanol yield of 5.6% (v/v) on 12th day. P. fermentans demonstrated a maximum OCV of 0.318 ± 0.0039 V and power density of 8.299 mW m− 2 on 15th day with ethanol yield of 4.7 % (v/v) on 12th day. Coulombic efficiency (CE) increased gradually from 0.002–0.471 % and 0.012–0.089 % in the case of S. cerevisiae and P. fermentans, respectively, during 15 days of experiment. Thus, the result indicated that Single chambered fuel cell can be explored for its potential applications for ethanol production along with clean energy generation.

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