IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v169y2019icp776-782.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cells running methane, propane and butane: On soot, efficiency and power density

Author

Listed:
  • Milcarek, Ryan J.
  • Ahn, Jeongmin

Abstract

A two-stage combustor with 1st-stage premixed fuel-rich combustion, integrated micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cell (FFC) and 2nd-stage, fuel-lean combustion is described. The current state of research in direct flame fuel cells (DFFCs) is assessed and the dilemma of obtaining high power density, high electrical efficiency and no soot is discussed. A method for deriving the maximum theoretical electrical efficiency from a FFC based system is developed. A method for comparing methane, propane and butane in the two-stage combustor with integrated FFC is developed. Methane, propane and butane are tested at different equivalence ratios and flow rates to assess the power density and electrical efficiency. High power density (>300 mW cm−2) and high electrical efficiency (>1.2%) are achieved for equivalence ratios below 1.6. Methane is found to achieve higher power density and electrical efficiency at lower equivalence ratios compared to propane and butane. Soot formation is avoided by operating below the critical sooting limit.

Suggested Citation

  • Milcarek, Ryan J. & Ahn, Jeongmin, 2019. "Micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cells running methane, propane and butane: On soot, efficiency and power density," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 776-782.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:169:y:2019:i:c:p:776-782
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.098
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544218324642
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.098?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Yuqing & Zeng, Hongyu & Cao, Tianyu & Shi, Yixiang & Cai, Ningsheng & Ye, Xiaofeng & Wang, Shaorong, 2016. "Start-up and operation characteristics of a flame fuel cell unit," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 415-421.
    2. Wang, Yuqing & Zeng, Hongyu & Shi, Yixiang & Cao, Tianyu & Cai, Ningsheng & Ye, Xiaofeng & Wang, Shaorong, 2016. "Power and heat co-generation by micro-tubular flame fuel cell on a porous media burner," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 117-123.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ghotkar, Rhushikesh & Milcarek, Ryan J., 2020. "Investigation of flame-assisted fuel cells integrated with an auxiliary power unit gas turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    2. Chen, Yu & Lu, Minyi & Yang, Huazheng & Yao, Yingbang & Tao, Tao & Lu, Shengguo & Wang, Chao & Ramesh, Rajendran & Kendall, Michaela & Kendall, Kevin & Ouyang, Xiaoping & Liang, Bo, 2020. "80 Hours operation of a tubular solid oxide fuel cell using propane/air," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    3. Rhushikesh Ghotkar & Ellen B. Stechel & Ivan Ermanoski & Ryan J. Milcarek, 2020. "Hybrid Fuel Cell—Supercritical CO 2 Brayton Cycle for CO 2 Sequestration-Ready Combined Heat and Power," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Milcarek, Ryan J. & DeBiase, Vincent P. & Ahn, Jeongmin, 2020. "Investigation of startup, performance and cycling of a residential furnace integrated with micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cells for micro-combined heat and power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    5. Skabelund, B.B. & Milcarek, R.J., 2022. "Review of thermal partial oxidation reforming with integrated solid oxide fuel cell power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    6. Brent B. Skabelund & Joseph Elio & Ryan J. Milcarek, 2021. "Techno-Economic Assessment of a Hybrid Gas Tank Hot Water Combined Heat and Power System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-21, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexander R. Hartwell & Cole A. Wilhelm & Thomas S. Welles & Ryan J. Milcarek & Jeongmin Ahn, 2022. "Effects of Synthesis Gas Concentration, Composition, and Operational Time on Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Rhushikesh Ghotkar & Ryan J. Milcarek, 2022. "Modeling of the Kinetic Factors in Flame-Assisted Fuel Cells," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Skabelund, B.B. & Milcarek, R.J., 2022. "Review of thermal partial oxidation reforming with integrated solid oxide fuel cell power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Zeng, Hongyu & Wang, Yuqing & Shi, Yixiang & Cai, Ningsheng & Yuan, Dazhong, 2018. "Highly thermal integrated heat pipe-solid oxide fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 613-619.
    5. Zeng, Hongyu & Gong, Siqi & Shi, Yixiang & Wang, Yuqing & Cai, Ningsheng, 2019. "Micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cell stack operated with catalytically enhanced porous media fuel-rich combustor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 154-162.
    6. Janvekar, Ayub Ahmed & Miskam, M.A. & Abas, Aizat & Ahmad, Zainal Arifin & Juntakan, T. & Abdullah, M.Z., 2017. "Effects of the preheat layer thickness on surface/submerged flame during porous media combustion of micro burner," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 103-110.
    7. Ghotkar, Rhushikesh & Milcarek, Ryan J., 2020. "Investigation of flame-assisted fuel cells integrated with an auxiliary power unit gas turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    8. Milcarek, Ryan J. & DeBiase, Vincent P. & Ahn, Jeongmin, 2020. "Investigation of startup, performance and cycling of a residential furnace integrated with micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cells for micro-combined heat and power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    9. Hu, Zunyan & Xu, Liangfei & Huang, Yiyuan & Li, Jianqiu & Ouyang, Minggao & Du, Xiaoli & Jiang, Hongliang, 2018. "Comprehensive analysis of galvanostatic charge method for fuel cell degradation diagnosis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1321-1332.
    10. Rashid, Kashif & Dong, Sang Keun & Mehran, Muhammad Taqi, 2017. "Numerical investigations to determine the optimal operating conditions for 1 kW-class flat-tubular solid oxide fuel cell stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 673-691.
    11. Brent B. Skabelund & Joseph Elio & Ryan J. Milcarek, 2021. "Techno-Economic Assessment of a Hybrid Gas Tank Hot Water Combined Heat and Power System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-21, November.
    12. Banerjee, Abhisek & Paul, Diplina, 2021. "Developments and applications of porous medium combustion: A recent review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    13. Arsalis, Alexandros, 2019. "A comprehensive review of fuel cell-based micro-combined-heat-and-power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 391-414.
    14. Luo, Yu & Liao, Shuting & Chen, Shuai & Fang, Huihuang & Zhong, Fulan & Lin, Li & Zhou, Chen & Chen, Chongqi & Cai, Guohui & Au, Chak-Tong & Jiang, Lilong, 2022. "Optimized coupling of ammonia decomposition and electrochemical oxidation in a tubular direct ammonia solid oxide fuel cell for high-efficiency power generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    15. Rhushikesh Ghotkar & Ellen B. Stechel & Ivan Ermanoski & Ryan J. Milcarek, 2020. "Hybrid Fuel Cell—Supercritical CO 2 Brayton Cycle for CO 2 Sequestration-Ready Combined Heat and Power," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:169:y:2019:i:c:p:776-782. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.