Fuel cell power generation has evolved from the laboratory and aerospace applications, and moved onto practical applications of stationary power generation and automotive propulsion, driven by its high-energy efficiency and low emissions. The success of the fuel cell technology depends on its performance, cost, and reliability in commercial applications. Fuel Cell Energy Inc. (Danbury, CT) has been developing its direct fuel cell (DFC™) technology for power generation based on internal-reforming carbonate fuel cells. The DFC technology integrates the reforming reaction within the carbonate fuel cell stack. The integration of the reforming process inside the high temperature fuel cell stack simplifies the fuel cell power plant system and makes the fuel cell technology more accessible to the practical usage with low cost and high efficiency. The internal-reforming direct carbonate fuel cell technology has progressed steadily with improvement in performance and success in precommercialization applications. Modeling and simulation of the fuel cell performance played an important role in the fuel cell development. This paper will illustrate improved mathematical model for the direct carbonate fuel cell with the internal-reforming process and complete fuel cell physical and chemical descriptions for the simulation. The model has been validated with data from real-scale fuel cell stacks and applied to fuel cell stack design. More powerful and reliable DFC stack with improved performance has been developed with the assistance of this model. This paper will present progress in developing high performance stack designs aided by modeling efforts, its impact on power increase, and cost reduction in the DFC product.
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October 2010
This article was originally published in
Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology
Research Papers
High Power Internal-Reforming Direct Carbonate Fuel Cell Stack Development Through Mathematical Modeling and Engineering Optimization
Zhiwen Ma,
Zhiwen Ma
Fuel Cell Energy Inc.
, 3 Great Pasture Road, Danbury, CT 06813
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Ramakrishnan Venkataraman,
Ramakrishnan Venkataraman
Fuel Cell Energy Inc.
, 3 Great Pasture Road, Danbury, CT 06813
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Mohammad Farooque
Mohammad Farooque
Fuel Cell Energy Inc.
, 3 Great Pasture Road, Danbury, CT 06813
Search for other works by this author on:
Zhiwen Ma
Fuel Cell Energy Inc.
, 3 Great Pasture Road, Danbury, CT 06813
Ramakrishnan Venkataraman
Fuel Cell Energy Inc.
, 3 Great Pasture Road, Danbury, CT 06813
Mohammad Farooque
Fuel Cell Energy Inc.
, 3 Great Pasture Road, Danbury, CT 06813J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol. Oct 2010, 7(5): 051003 (8 pages)
Published Online: July 8, 2010
Article history
Received:
October 1, 2007
Revised:
October 9, 2009
Online:
July 8, 2010
Published:
July 8, 2010
Citation
Ma, Z., Venkataraman, R., and Farooque, M. (July 8, 2010). "High Power Internal-Reforming Direct Carbonate Fuel Cell Stack Development Through Mathematical Modeling and Engineering Optimization." ASME. J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol. October 2010; 7(5): 051003. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4000625
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