Theoretical and experimental investigation of syngas-fueled molten carbonate fuel cell for assessment of its performance

Electrochemical, thermal, electrical and flow parameters of a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) are organized in a reduced order model, which is a 0-D mathematical model. The aim was to simulate different fuel cell working conditions taking into consideration a reduced number of parameters. The reduced order model for an MCFC fed by syngas is formulated and implemented in Matlab. A validation process for experimental data of the MCFC was made for some fuel and oxidant mixtures and adequate results are shown. The maximum percentage error ranges between 3.7% and 5.4% in the various considered cases. At the anode, the direct internal water gas shift chemical reaction and the electrochemical consumption of carbon monoxide in addition to electrochemical consumption of hydrogen are considered. The ratio between the molar flows of carbon monoxide and hydrogen electrochemically consumed is a function of average rates of the electrochemical reactions and influences fuel cell performance. Furthermore, the simulation model is used to estimate the fuel cell performance varying the above-mentioned ratio. Acting on this ratio the performances of and MCFC fed by syngas and hydrogen could become comparable.