Coal gas fuel utilization effects on electrolyte supported solide oxide fuel cell performance

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) transform the energy of the fuel instantly into electric energy with a large fuel option. Coal, which is a local energy source, is a preferred fuel despite its negative features because it is cheap and abundant. The use of coal and coal-based fuels in SOFCs has recently attracted considerable attention. In this study, performance analysis of the SOFC has been performed experimentally by using hydrogen, generator gas (contained 12% H2), and water-gas (contained 50% H2) in an electrolyte-supported SOFC (ES-SOFC). The numerical modelling of the fuel cell had been previously performed. In addition, the effect of inlet gas fuel flow rates on the ES- SOFC has been investigated numerically in this study. The temperature effect on the performance of ES-SOFC has been examined experimentally. It is seen that the performance of SOFCs fueled hydrogen is favorable than fueled water gas and generator gas. This is because of the higher hydrogen substance in the water gas measure against the other gas. In addition, it is seen that the increase in temperature increases the performance with positive effects on the reactions. It is also concluded that the performance of SOFC increases when inlet fuel flow rates increase.