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FuelCellsCouldBeaGame-ChangerforCarbonCapture

FuelCellsCouldBeaGame-ChangerforCarbonCapture
05/11/2016|ThomasOverton
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Fuelcellspoweredbynaturalgas,biogas,andhydrogenarearapidlyexpandingoptionfordistributedgeneration,withfuelcellbasedpower
plantsbeingdeployedincapacitiesintotensofmegawatts.Butasthetechnologyimprovesandcostsbegintoscale,opportunitiesforother
applicationsarebeingexplored.
Onesuchapplicationmayevengobeyondpowergeneration.Danbury,Conn.basedFuelCellEnergy(FCE),oneofthelargestsuppliersoffuel
cellsworldwide,andExxonMobilannounced(http://fcel.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=969386)apartnershiponMay5to
explorethepossibilitiesforusingfuelcellsforcarboncapture.

FuelCellsUsingFlueGas
AccordingtoKurtGoddard,FCEsvicepresidentofinvestorrelations,theapplicationwilldepartfromthetraditionalmethodofpoweringthefuel
cellswithambientairandmethane.
Whatwefoundisthereisauniquesidereactionandbenefitofourstandardtypicalfuelcell,andinsteadofambientair,wecanbringintheflue
gasfromacoalplantorgasplant,andwecanconcentratetheCO2thatiscomingin.
NormallyinFCEscarbonatefuelcells,methaneisreformedinthecellanodetocreateCO2andH2,whichisthenusedtogenerateelectricityby
combiningwithoxygenfromambientairtocreateanelectriccurrentandexhauststreamsofwatervaporandCO2.Thecarbon-capturefuelcell
willstillbepoweredbymethane,butbyusingfluegasinsteadofambientair,thechemicalreactionsinthecellcanconcentrateupto90%ofthe
incomingCO2,whichflowswiththeCO2generatedinthereformingprocessintothenormalexhauststream,whereitcaneasilybeseparated
fromthewatervapor.
Acriticaldifferenceandbonusinthisprocessisthatratherthanbeingaparasiticdrainontheplant,itactuallygeneratesadditionalpower
(Figure1).AccordingtoFCE,thepoweroutputislargerthantheparasiticdrainfromconventionalcarbon-capturetechnologies.

(http://cdn.powermag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/module-lineup-shadow-edit.jpg)
1. Fuel cells powered by natural gas could potentially function as carbon capture technology by using power plant flue gas
instead of ambient air. Courtesy: FuelCell Energy

Inaddition,Goddardsaid,Wecandestroyroughlytwo-thirdsoftheNOxinthefluegas.
HowmuchCO2canbecaptureddependsonhowmanyfuelcellsareemployed,aseachcanhandleonlyacertainamountoffluegas.Atypical
500-MWcombinedcycleplantwouldneedaround120MWoffuelcellstoachieve90%capture,Goddardsaid,whileanequivalentcoalplant
mightneedaround400MWoffuelcellsbecauseofitslowerefficiency.
Youcanaddacoupleovertimeanddoitinincrements.Youdonothavetodoitallatonce.
Commercialdeploymentisstillyearsaway,butrepresentativesfrombothcompaniesareoptimisticaboutthepotential,whichVijaySwarup,vice
presidentforresearchanddevelopmentatExxonMobilResearchandEngineeringcalledagamechangerforcarbon-capturetechnology.

ProfitableCarbonCapture?
Effortstodeploycarbon-captureatgridscalehaverunintoseriousproblemswithCO2captureperformanceandcosts.Theonlyoperational
utility-scalefacility,SaskPowersBoundaryDamProjectinCanada(http://www.powermag.com/saskpowers-boundary-dam-carbon-captureproject-wins-powers-highest-award/),sufferedfromsubstantialoperationalproblemsitsfirstyearofoperation,thoughithasrecentlyseenmore
success(http://www.powermag.com/saskpower-carbon-capture-facility-operating-more-reliably/).SouthernCo.sKemperCountyprojectin
Mississippihasbeenplaguedwithdelaysandhugecostoverruns(http://www.powermag.com/kemper-county-igcc-costs-rise-and-delays-loomagain/)thatmostrecentlyhavedrawnattentionfromtheSecuritiesandExchangeCommission(http://www.powermag.com/southern-cokemper-igcc-delays-cost-surges-are-under-sec-scrutiny/).
Otherprojects,suchasNRGsretrofitprojectattheW.A.Parishplant(http://www.powermag.com/commercial-scale-carbon-capture-projectstarts-construction-in-texas/)nearHoustonandtheproposedTexasCleanEnergyProject(http://www.powermag.com/is-polygeneration-thefuture-for-clean-coal/)nearMidland,havefacedcriticismthattheirrelianceonenhancedoilrecoverynegatesclimatebenefitsofcarboncapture
(http://www.powermag.com/is-eor-a-dead-end-for-carbon-capture/).Nomattertheapproach,allcurrentcarbon-capturetechnologiessuffer
fromsubstantiallyincreasedcostsofgenerationandreducednetpoweroutput.

Thepossibilitiesofemployingfuelcellstoreducepowerplantemissionsforbothcoalplants(http://www.powermag.com/is-a-new-hybridsystem-the-cure-for-coal-powers-ills/)andnatural-gascombinedcycleplants(http://www.powermag.com/next-generation-of-gas-fired-powerstarts-to-take-shape/),andpotentiallycaptureCO2havedrawnresearchattentioninrecentyears,thoughapplicationshavetypicallyinvolved
placingthefuelcellsinfrontoftheturbinesorreplacingtypicalcombustionprocessesaltogether.TheFCE-ExxonMobilinitiativeisamongthe
firsttolookatplacingthefuelcellsaftercombustion.
ExxonMobilbeganworkingwithFCEonthisprojectseveralyearsago,Goddardsaid,beginningwithinformaldiscussionsthatledtomoreformal
testing.Withthepotentialnowclear,thetwocompanieshavegonepublicwiththeinitiative.Thepartnershipwillfocusinitiallyonhowtofurther
increaseefficiencyinseparationandconcentrationoftheCO2fromgasturbineexhaust.Thatisexpectedtotakeonetotwoyears.
GoddardsaidFCEandExxonMobilscientistswillbeworkingtobetterunderstandthechemicalprocessesthataretakingplaceandhowthey
respondtodifferentcompositionsoffluegas.Assumingsuccess,thesecondphasewillmovetoasmall-scalepilotprojectforadditionaltesting,
thenintegrationintoalarger-scalepilotfacility.
Thomas W. Overton, JD is a POWER associate editor (@thomas_overton, @POWERmagazine).

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