258 results about "Molten carbonate fuel cell" patented technology

An electrical current generating system is disclosed that includes a fuel cell operating at a temperature of at least about 250° C. (for example, a molten carbonate fuel cell or a solid oxide fuel cell), a hydrogen gas separation system or oxygen gas delivery system that includes a compressor or pump, and a drive system for the compressor or pump that includes means for recovering energy from at least one of the hydrogen gas separation system, oxygen gas delivery system, or heat of the fuel cell. The drive system could be a gas turbine system. The hydrogen gas separation system or the oxygen gas delivery system may include a pressure swing adsorption module.

The present invention is directed to systems and processes for operating molten carbonate fuel cell systems. A process for operating the molten carbonate fuel cell includes providing a hydrogen-containing stream comprising molecular hydrogen to a molten carbonate fuel cell anode; heating a hydrocarbon stream, at least a majority of which is comprised of hydrocarbons that are liquid at 20° C. and atmospheric pressure, with a heat source comprising an anode exhaust from the molten carbonate fuel cell anode; contacting at least a portion of the heated hydrocarbon stream with a catalyst to produce a steam reforming feed comprising gaseous hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and at least one carbon oxide; separating at least a portion of the molecular hydrogen from the steam reforming feed; and providing at least a portion of the separated molecular hydrogen to the molten carbonate fuel cell anode as at least a portion of the stream comprising molecular hydrogen.

The invention relates to a new and improved process and apparatus for the production of high purity hydrogen by steam reforming. The apparatus is an integrated flameless distributed combustion-membrane steam reforming (FDC-MSR) or reactor for steam reforming of a vaporizable hydrocarbon to produce H₂ and CO₂, with minimal CO, and minimal CO in the H₂ stream. The flameless distributed combustion drives the steam reforming reaction which pro-vides great improvements in heat exchange efficiency and load following capabilities. The reactor may contain multiple flameless distributed combustion chambers and multiple hydrogen-selective, hydrogen-permeable, membrane tubes. The feed and reaction gases may flow through the reactor either radially or axially. A further embodiment of the invention involves producing high purity hydrogen by dehydrogenation using an integrated FDC-membrane de-hydrogenation reactor. A still further embodiment of the invention involves a zero emission hybrid power system wherein the produced hydrogen is used to power a high-pressure internally manifolded molten carbonate fuel cell. In addition, the design of the FDC-SMR powered fuel cell makes it possible to capture good concentrations of CO₂ for sequestration or use in other processes.

A biomass hydrogen energy generating method is characterized in that using biomass thermal chemical hydrogen generating method to convert biomass into clean high-temperature hydrogen-abundant fuel gas, which can be directly used in fusion carbonate fuel battery without purification to generate electricity.

The present invention is directed to systems and processes of operating molten carbonate fuel cell systems. A process for operating the molten carbonate fuel cell includes providing a hydrogen-containing stream comprising molecular hydrogen from a high temperature hydrogen-separation device to a molten carbonate fuel cell, wherein the high temperature hydrogen-separation device comprises one or more high temperature hydrogen-separating membranes; mixing at least a portion of hydrocarbons to be provided to, or provided to, a first reformer with anode exhaust from the molten carbonate fuel cell; at least partially reforming some of the hydrocarbons in the first reformer to produce a steam reforming feed; and providing the steam reforming feed to a second reformer, wherein the second reformer comprises the high temperature hydrogen-separation device or the second reformer is operatively coupled to the high temperature hydrogen-separation device, and the high temperature hydrogen-separation device is configured to produce at least a portion of the stream comprising molecular hydrogen provided to the molten carbonate fuel cell.

A molten carbonate fuel cell, operating method of the fuel cell, sintering furnace equipped with the fuel cell, and power generator, wherein a cathode gas with a high carbon dioxide concentration can be obtained without a process of increasing the carbon dioxide concentration, and the heat of furnace exhaust gas can be effectively reclaimed and the fuel consumption can be reduced. The cathode gas is a gas containing a furnace exhaust gas discharged from an industrial furnace for heating materials, a mixed gas of the furnace exhaust gas and a gas for cathode use or a preheated gas for cathode use, which is a gas for cathode use preheated using the furnace exhaust gas as a heating source, or the preheated gas for cathode use, and the carbon dioxide concentration of the cathode gas is 0.1-50 vol %.

A molten carbonate fuel cell, which is provided with an indirect internal steam reformer to efficiently control heat and simplify the system construction and has a simple structure to reduce production cost and efficiently controls heat to reduce operational cost and increase operational efficiency, is disclosed. The molten carbonate fuel cell of the present invention has a plurality of unit cells each including a porous matrix plate which is interposed between an anode plate and a cathode plate and is filled with an alkali carbonate electrolyte, the unit cells being stacked on top of another; at least one indirect internal steam reformer interposed between the stacked unit cells and reforming a fuel to hydrogen through a reforming reaction and supplying the hydrogen to the unit cells; a fuel manifold air-tightly installed at an inlet of both the indirect internal steam reformer and the unit cells and receiving a fuel supply pipe therein to supply the fuel to the indirect internal steam reformer; and a reformed fuel manifold air-tightly installed at an outlet of both the indirect internal steam reformer and the unit cells and supplying the hydrogen produced by the indirect internal steam reformer to the unit cells.

A molten carbonate fuel cell stack and a method of operating a molten carbonate fuel cell stack, which fuel cell comprises a porous anode, a carbonate-comprising matrix and a porous cathode, wherein the anode section is supplied with a hydrogenous gas and the cathode section is supplied with a gaseous mixture comprising oxygen and carbon dioxide, the fuel cell is operated at a temperature in a range of about 823-973 K, with the carbonate of the carbonate-comprising matrix being in a fluid state, oxygen and carbon dioxide are reacted at the cathode, yielding carbonate ions which move from the cathode to the anode generating an electric voltage between the anode and the cathode and an electrical current circulating in the external circuit and water that has been formed is led away from the fuel cell together with carbon dioxide, comprising sampling the temperature of inlet of the reactants, sampling the temperature of outlet of reactants, sampling the current density and voltage sampling the flow rate and gas composition of the inlet and outlet gases analyzing the sampled temperature, current density, voltage flow rates and gas composition, and regulating the inlet flow rate such as the pressure drop between inlet and outlet is below 20 mbar and the temperature in each element of a cell of the stack is below 973K.

Processes and systems for operating molten carbonate fuel cell systems are described herein. A process for operating a molten carbonate fuel cell system includes providing a hydrogen-containing stream comprising molecular hydrogen to an anode portion of a molten carbonate fuel cell; controlling a flow rate of the hydrogen-containing stream to the anode such that molecular hydrogen utilization in the anode is less than 50%; mixing anode exhaust comprising molecular hydrogen from the molten carbonate fuel cell with a hydrocarbon stream comprising hydrocarbons, contacting at least a portion of the mixture of anode exhaust and the hydrocarbon stream with a catalyst to produce a steam reforming feed; separating at least a portion of molecular hydrogen from the steam reforming feed; and providing at least a portion of the separated molecular hydrogen to the molten carbonate fuel cell anode.

A molten carbonate fuel cell having an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, and an electrolyte matrix disposed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. An electrode support constructed of a high porosity reticulated foam material is disposed on an anode electrode face of at least one of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode facing away from the electrolyte matrix and forming a plurality of pores. An electrolyte is disposed within at least a portion of the plurality of pores, whereby at least a portion of the electrolyte flows into the electrolyte matrix during initial conditioning of the fuel cell.

A molten carbonate fuel cell is constructed of plural stacked individual cell units, that each respectively include a porous, electrolyte saturated matrix (3) sandwiched between a cathode (2) and an anode (4), and current collectors (5, 6) respectively arranged between the anode (4) and a first separator plate (7), and between the cathode (2) and a second separator plate (8). Especially the cathode current collector (6) includes a stainless steel core (16) that is coated on at least one surface with an aluminum-containing layer (14). Preferably both surfaces of the stainless steel core (16) are coated with aluminum-containing layers (14A, 14B), except for a contact area (12) at which the stainless steel core (16) directly contacts the cathode (2). The aluminum-containing layer (14) prevents or minimizes the occurrence of an oxidation reaction that would otherwise lead to significant loss of the electrolyte.

The invention belongs to the field of coal chemical, and discloses a coal chemical poly-generation process and a coal chemical poly-generation system. According to the invention, coke and oxygen-rich gas obtained after low-rank coal upgrading conversion and quicklime are adopted as raw materials; calcium carbide is prepared by using an oxygen heat method; and acetylene is produced with a dry-method acetylene production process. Part of calcium carbide residue containing calcium hydroxide is outputted as a by-product, and another part of the calcium carbide residue containing calcium hydroxide is calcined and prepared into calcium oxide, which is then recycled as a calcium carbide preparation unit raw material. High-purity CO furnace gas produced by the calcium carbide preparation unit is added into the oxygen-rich gas, such that molten carbonate fuel cell raw material is prepared and electricity generation can be carried out. Further, heat contained in discharged gas of fuel cell recovered with a heat recovery technology and heat produced after combustion thereof are respectively used for providing heat for a steam Rankine cycle, a raw material preheating unit, a drying unit, and a calcining unit. Steam Rankine cycle condensed water is pump-pressurized; heat contained in fuel cell tail gas, combustion unit tail gas, calcining unit discharged water, and drying unit discharged water are recovered; and steam generation is carried out. With the process and the system provided by the invention, energy cascade utilization is realized.

The invention belongs to the technical fields of coal-fired power plant CO2 capture and utilization and in particular relates to a system and a method for capturing coal-fired power plant CO2 by use of a molten carbonate fuel cell. The following scheme is put forward by taking a conventional coal-fired power plant not recovering CO2 as a reference system, namely a system composed of the conventional coal-fired power plant, the molten carbonate fuel cell, an independent air separation unit, a waste heat boiler and steam turbine unit and a CO2 recovery unit and used for capturing the coal-fired power plant CO2 by use of the molten carbonate fuel cell, and a method of the system; as a result, the problem of relatively low efficiency after large-amount CO2 emission of the coal-fired power plant and CO2 capture, and CO2 emission reduction of the coal-fired power plant and low-energy consumption CO2 recovery are realized. Besides, the high-temperature exhaust heat of MCFC and a rear combustion chamber are utilized thoroughly, and therefore, the system is enabled to have relatively high efficiency in CO2 recovery.

The invention discloses a combined heat and electricity generation system formed by the combination of a fuel cell and a gas turbine. The system comprises a feeding subsystem, a preheating subsystem, a fuel cell subsystem, a reforming subsystem, a gas turbine power generation subsystem and a waste heat utilization subsystem. A mixing combustion subsystem is provided between the fuel cell subsystem and the gas turbine power generation subsystem, and the subsystems are mutually connected with each other to form the combined heat and electricity generation system of cycle combination. According to the invention, the supercharged melted carbonate fuel cell is organically combined with the micro gas turbine to form the quality-exchanged combined cycle system, the power density of the system is high, and the waste heat recycle is fully and effectively carried out, so the whole energy utilization rate is improved as possible.

An electrochemical fuel cell designed for a large electrochemical reaction surface area per unit volume for high power density and high efficiency. The fuel cell is designed for counter propagating reactants flow for uniform reaction rate over the whole reaction area. This design is scalable and a single cell can be built with output power level ranging from a few watts to several megawatts. The cell does not require bipolar plates and is lightweight. The design has been demonstrated with proton exchange membrane as an electrolyte for the electrochemical reaction, however, the design is adaptable for other types of fuels and fuel cells with other electrolytes including all types of polymer electrolytic fuel cells, alkaline fuel cells, phosphoric acid fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells and all their subcategories as well. The fuel cell is adaptable for use as an electrolyzer as well.

The invention belongs to the technical field of power generation of hybrid power of an MCFC (molten carbonate fuel cell), and particularly relates to a hybrid power system using a normal pressure MCFC to recover CO2 in exhaust gas of a gas turbine. According to the hybrid power system disclosed by the invention, a gas-steam combined cycle system which does not recover the CO2 is taken as a reference system, and then an integrated scheme utilizing the MCFC to capture the CO2 is proposed. The hybrid power system comprises a gas turbine, an MCFC, an oxygen ion transport film, a high-temperature air turbine, a residual heat boiler and a CO2 recovery unit, and low-CO2 emission of the gas turbine is further realized. Products of an after-combustion chamber of the MCFC only comprise CO2 and H2O, and the loss of power is reduced during the separation and storage processes of the CO2; and the hybrid power system disclosed by the invention fully utilizes residual heat in the high-temperature exhaust gas of the gas turbine and a component thereof, namely the greenhouse gas CO2, as well as the residual heat in the high-temperature exhaust gas of the MCFC and an OTM (optical touch module), and the CO2 in the exhaust gas of the gas turbine can be recovered by utilizing the MCFC with low energy consumption.

An integrated gasification molten carbonate fuel cell power generating system comprises an air separation device. An outlet of the air separation device is connected with an inlet of a gasification furnace. An outlet of the gasification furnace is connected with a waste heat recovery device through a high-temperature heat exchanger, a particulate removal device, a desulfurization device, a mercury removal device, and a water-steam conversion device, and then connected with an anode inlet of a molten carbonate fuel cell. The output of the molten carbonate fuel cell is connected with an AC power grid or an electric appliance through a DC/AC converter. Synthesis gas from the gasification furnace is subjected to heat recovery after passing through the high-temperature heat exchanger, is introduced into the high-temperature molten carbonate fuel cell after being subjected to gas purification. Moreover, air is firstly pressurized by a compressor, then is heated by the high-temperature heat exchanger and a low-temperature heat exchanger, and then is used for driving a turbine to generate electricity, and heat is made makes a full use to be converted into electrical power. By adopting the system, the heat utilization rate is increased and the efficiency is improved.

Systems and methods are provided for capturing CO₂ from a combustion source using molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs). The fuel cells can be operated to have a reduced anode fuel utilization. Optionally, at least a portion of the anode exhaust can be recycled for use as a fuel for the combustion source. Optionally, a second portion of the anode exhaust can be recycled for use as part of an anode input stream. This can allow for a reduction in the amount of fuel cell area required for separating CO₂ from the combustion source exhaust and/or modifications in how the fuel cells are operated.