Abstract
This study evaluates the technical, environmental and economic performance of power generation processes based on natural gas fired molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Compared to conventional natural gas based combined cycle technology these fuel cell systems are more efficient and produce a lower level of CO2 emissions. They have combined heat and power efficiencies between 72.8% and 91.0%. Anode gas recycle can improve the electrical efficiency by 7.5 percentage points and reduce CO2 emissions by 15%. Increasing the cell temperature gradient from 50° to 250°C increases the electrical efficiency by 3.9 percentage points. However, for fuel cells to compete with other small scale systems, the capital cost has to be reduced to around £500/kWe.
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