Landfill gas cleanup for carbonate fuel cell power generation. Final report
To utilize landfill gas for power generation using carbonate fuel cells, the LFG must be cleaned up to remove sulfur and chlorine compounds. This not only benefits the operation of the fuel cell, but also benefits the environment by preventing the emission of these contaminants to the atmosphere. Commercial technologies for gas processing are generally economical in relatively large sizes (3 MMSCFD or larger), and may not achieve the low levels of contaminants required. To address the issue of LFG clean-up for fuel cell application, a process was developed utilizing commercially available technology. A pilot-scale test facility utilizing this process was built at a landfill site in Anoka, Minnesota using the EPRI fuel cell test facility used for coal gas testing. The pilot plant was tested for 1000 hours, processing 970,000 SCF (27,500 Nm{sup 3}) of landfill gas. Testing indicated that the process could achieve the following concentrations of contaminants in the clean gas: Less than 80 ppbv hydrogen sulfide; less than 1 ppm (the detection limit) organic sulfur; less than 300 ppbv hydrogen chloride; less than 20--80 ppbv if any individual chlorinated hydrocarbon; and 1.5 ppm (average) Sulfur Dioxide. The paper describes the LFG composition for bulk and trace compounds; evaluation of various methods to clean landfill gas; design of a LFG cleanup system; field test of pilot-scale gas cleanup process; fuel cell testing on simulated landfill gas; single cell testing on landfill gas contaminants and post test analysis; and design and economic analyses of a full scale gas cleanup system.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Research Corp., Danbury, CT (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Washington, DC (United States); USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-83CH10093
- OSTI ID:
- 314089
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/SR-570-26037; ON: DE99001696
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Feb 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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