Novel Application of Carbonate Fuel Cell for Capturing Carbon Dioxide from Flue Gas Streams

Journal Article · Wed Sep 30 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · ECS Transactions, 65(1):115-127

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/06501.0115ecst· OSTI ID:1229951

Jolly, Stephen; Ghezel-Ayagh, Hossein; Willman, Carl; Patel, Dilip; DiNitto, M.; Marina, Olga A.; Pederson, Larry R.; Steen, William A.

To address concerns about climate change resulting from emission of CO2 by coal-fueled power plants, FuelCell Energy, Inc. has developed the Combined Electric Power and Carbon-dioxide Separation (CEPACS) system concept. The CEPACS system utilizes Electrochemical Membrane (ECM) technology derived from the Company’s Direct FuelCell® products. The system separates the CO2 from the flue gas of other plants and produces electric power using a supplementary fuel. FCE is currently evaluating the use of ECM to cost effectively separate CO2 from the flue gas of Pulverized Coal (PC) power plants under a U.S. Department of Energy contract. The overarching objective of the project is to verify that the ECM can achieve at least 90% CO2 capture from the flue gas with no more than 35% increase in the cost of electricity. The project activities include: 1) laboratory scale operational and performance tests of a membrane assembly, 2) performance tests of the membrane to evaluate the effects of impurities present in the coal plant flue gas, in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 3) techno-economic analysis for an ECM-based CO2 capture system applied to a 550 MW existing PC plant, in partnership with URS Corporation, and 4) bench scale (11.7 m2 area) testing of an ECM-based CO2 separation and purification system.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1229951
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-113318; AA6510000
• Journal Information: ECS Transactions, 65(1):115-127, Journal Name: ECS Transactions, 65(1):115-127 Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 65; ISSN 1938-6737
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CO2 separation
Carbon capture
MCFC
electrochemical membrane