• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.141-148
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• 2018

This study evaluated the performance characteristics of varied electrolyte species and amounts in a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). Coin-type MCFCs were used at the condition of $650^{\circ}C$ and 1 atm. In order to measure the effects of varied electrolyte species and amounts, electrolytes of $(Li+K)_2CO_3$ and $(Li+Na)_2CO_3$ were selected and the amounts of 1.5 g, 2.0 g, 3.0 g, and 4.0 g were used. Insignificant performance differences were observed in the cell using different electrolytes, but the cell performance was sensitive to the amount of the electrolyte used. The pore-filling ratio (PFR), a ratio of pore filling in the components by the liquid carbonate electrolytes, was used to determine the optimum performance range. Consequently, 77% PFR demonstrated the optimum performance for both electrolytes. Thus, the MCFC had a permissible but narrow optimum performance range. The remaining amounts of electrolyte in the cells were determined using the weight reduction ratio (WRR) method after several hours of cell operation. The WRR used the relationship between the initial loaded amount of electrolyte and weight reduction of components in 10 wt% acetic acid. The relationships were linear and identical between the two electrolyte species.

• 조명전기설비학회논문지
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• 제27권8호
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• pp.51-59
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• 2013

High temperature fuel cell system, such as molten carbonate fuel cells(MCFC) and solid oxide fuel cells(SOFC), are capable of operating at MW rated power output. The power output change of high temperature fuel cell imposes the thermal and mechanical stresses on the fuel cell stack. To minimize the thermal-mechanical stresses on the stack, increases in the power output of high temperature fuel cell typically must be made at a slow rate. So, the short time interruption of high temperature fuel cell causes considerable generated energy losses. Because of the characteristic of high temperature fuel cell, we analyzed the impact of electrical fault in the fuel cell plant on other fuel cell generators in the same plant site. A various grounding configuration and voltage sag are analyzed. Finally, we presented the solution to minimize the effect of fault on other fuel cell generators.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2001년도 춘계학술대회논문집D
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• pp.146-151
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• 2001

Several design parameters for a 100 kW molten carbonate fuel cell stack was described. Approximately 170 cells are required to generate 100 kW at a current density of $125\;mA/cm^{2}$ with $6000\;cm^{2}$ cells. An overall heat balance was calculated to predict exit temperature. In order to limit the stack temperature in the range of $600-700^{\circ}C$, current load cannot exceed $75\;mA/cm^{2}$ at atmospheric operation. The 100 kW power is expected only under pressurization. Recycle of cathode gas by more than 50% is recommended to run the stack at $125\;mA/cm^{2}$ and 3 atm. Manifolds should be designed based on gas flow rates for the suggested operating condition.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2000년도 춘계학술대회논문집B
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• pp.264-269
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• 2000

As a part of the ongoing effort towards commercial application of high-temperature fuel cell power generation systems, we have recently built a pilot-scale molten carbonate fuel cell power plant and tested it. The stack test system is composed of diverse peripheral units such as reformer, pre-heater, water purifier, electrical loader, gas supplier, and recycling systems. The stack itself was made of 40cells of $6000cm^2$ area each. The stack showed an output higher than 25kW power and a reliable performance at atmospheric operation. A pressurized performance was also tested, and it turned out the cell performance increased though a few cells have shown a symptom of gas crossover. The pressurized operation characteristics could be analyzed with numerical computation results of a stack model.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2009년도 춘계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.392-394
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• 2009

Direct Carbon Fuel Cells (DCFCs) generates electricity directly converting the chemical energy in coal. In the present study, effects of anode and current collector materials on the power density of DCFC are investigated experimentally. The adopted DCFC system is combined type of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) with the use of a liquid-molten salt anode and a solid oxide electrolyte, proposed by SRI. Power densities of 25 mm button cells with various combination of anode materials and current collector materials are measured.

• 조명전기설비학회논문지
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.26-31
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• 2014

High temperature fuel cell system, such as molten carbonate fuel cells(MCFC) and solid oxide fuel cells(SOFC), are capable of operating at MW rated power output. The power output change of high temperature fuel cell imposes the thermal and mechanical stresses on the fuel cell stack. To minimize the thermal-mechanical stresses on the stack and increase the systems reliability, we should divide the power plant configuration to several banks. However, the improvement of reliability in fuel cell power plant system causes an increase of the investment cost, for example, replacement costs, labor costs, and so on. For this reason - the balance between investment and reliability improvement - many studies about the appropriate level of investment have been conducted. In this paper, we evaluate the cost for operation and installation, the benefit for electric energy and thermal energy sales, and the system reliability for several cases : these cases relate with the bank configuration.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2007년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.117-120
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• 2007

Fuel cells are currently attracting tremendous interest because of their huge potential in stationary applications, in terms of substantiality of our energy use. They also offer environmental advantages, combining significantly higher efficiency with very much lower emission of SOx, NOx, and residual hydrocarbons, and significantly reduced $CO_{2}$ emissions compared to conventional power generation. The molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) was introduced from Fuel Cell Energy(FCE), which the one MCFC was operating by LNG and the other was operating by ADG. The ADG contains normally CH4, CO2 and various impurities such as sulfur compounds and siloxanes. Using the ADG as a fuel, MCFC have the potential to provide significant environmental and economic benefits. However, such impurities would be harmful to fuel cells. In this work, a purification process for the ADG was designed and installed in order to utilize the gas as a fuel for MCFC.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2010년도 추계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.82.1-82.1
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• 2010

Recently, Molten carbonate fuel cells(MCFCs) have been developing to get a good durability and economic feasibility for commercialization. To achieve these objectives, the cost of nickel based electrodes should be reduced. Regular anode thickness used in MCFCs is normally 0.7mm. Thus, in our study, the purpose was to reduce anode thickness up to 0.3 mm keeping MCFC performance on standard levels. In-situ sintering has been used, with 2 different fabrication methods (method A and B) and 2 different supports (support 1 and 2). Voltage losses at different temperature (600,620,640,$650^{\circ}C$) and after 1000 hours showed the higher performance that can be obtained using method B and support 2. After single cell test, an open-circuit voltage(OCV) of 1.075 V and a closed-circuit voltage(CCV) of 0.829V were obtained, at current density of $150mV/cm^2$. Also the voltage loss ratio at different cell temperature was lower in the case of method B and support 2. According to these results, the cost of anode fabrication can be reduced in the future, contributing for the economical feasibility of MCFCs.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제18권5호
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• pp.259-265
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• 2008

The corrosion and degradation factors of a current collector in a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) were investigated to determine the optimized coating thickness of nickel on STS316L. The results show that the surface morphology and electrical properties depended on the nickel coating thickness. The surface morphology gradually changed from a flat to a porous structure along as the nickel coating thickness decreased, and the electrical resistance of the nickel-coated STS316L increased as the nickel coating thickness decreased. This can be attributed to the diffusion of elements of Fe and Cr from the substrate through the nickel grain boundaries. Additionally, carburization in the metal grains or grain boundaries in an anodic environment was found to influence the electrical properties due to matrix distortion. The resistance of Cr-oxide layers formed in an anodic environment causes a drop in the potential, resulting in a decrease in the system efficiency.

• 소성∙가공
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.171-177
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• 2014

The current collector for the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) which has sheared protrusions is manufactured by the three-stage forming process that integrates slitting, preforming and final forming. Due to the repetition of sheared protrusions, an effective simulation method is required to predict the mechanical behavior. In the current study, a sheet with sheared protrusions was assumed to be an orthotropic plate, which has the same length, width and height. FEM simulations were conducted to evaluate the homogenized properties of the current collector, which has 4 (longitudinal direction) x 4 (transverse direction) sheared protrusions. The simulation model was constructed using hexahedral mesh coarsening. From the verification examples, it was found that the proposed simulation method was efficient within reasonable accuracy. The calculated homogenized properties can be applied to the design of a stack for molten carbonate fuel cells and the prediction of mechanical behavior for other applications.