Fuel cells powered by US coal gas still need C02 sequestration

Post date: Jun 24, 2011 6:54:15 PM

problems to solve:

coal gas, which now deactivates the anodes after as little as 30 minutes of operation

Conventional coal-fired electric generating facilities capture just a third of the energy available in the fuel they burn. Fuel cells can convert significantly more of the energy, approximately 50 percent. If gas turbines and fuel cells could be combined into hybrid systems, researchers believe they could capture as much as 80 percent of the energy, reducing the amount of coal needed to produce a given amount of energy, potentially cutting carbon emissions.

Fuel cells & gas turbines convert 80% to energy

traditional coal fired steam plants 30% only

Georgia Tech. researchers have devised self-cleaning anodes for a solid oxide fuel cell, which may provide yet another clean way of making use of the massive global coal resource

The US has roughly 1 trillion barrels of oil equivalent in coal resources and produces round about 50% of its Electricity with old Coal fired plants causing the C02 disaster.

Fuel cells powered by coal gas

"We can continuously operate the fuel cell without the problem of carbon deposition," said Liu, who is also co-director of Georgia Tech's Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies.

Proposal: nanoparticle nickel-YSZ electrode

The carbon removal system developed by the Georgia Tech-led team uses a vapor deposition process to apply barium oxide nanoparticles to the nickel-YSZ electrode. The particles, which range in size from 10 to 100 nanometers, form "islands" on the nickel that do not block the flow of electrons across the electrode surface

Test result: No C02 build up