Direct Carbon Fuel Cell DCFC

The solid fuel reacts directly at the electrode (anode) to form a gaseous exhaust product. The ceU reactions are given as follows  

DCFC operates at a high temperature of about 500-900°C and its theoretical efiiciency is 100%. The fuel feed and product gases are two distinct phases which 

These carbon particles which do not form direct contact with electrolyte are oxidised by the following reactions  

CO and CO2 produced get mixed together in the anodic chamber. Some CO produced may leave the chamber before getting oxidised at the anode, which may lead to a decrease in the efficiency of the DCFC. Equation (1.48) is a chemical reaction and (1.49) is an electrochemical reaction. The DCFC shall be operated continuously to avoid the formation of CO within the anode chamber. 

A new version of MCFC technology - the direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) - is under development at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the USA. Instead of using gaseous fuel, a slurry of finely divided carbon particles dispersed in molten alkali metal carbonates is fed to the cell. The carbon is made by the pyrolysis of almost any waste hydrocarbon e.g., petroleum coke), a process that is already carried out industrially on a large scale to produce carbon black for use in the manufacture of tyres, inks, plastic fillers, etc. The pyrolysis reaction yields hydrogen that can itself be utilized in another fuel cell  

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Direct Carbon Fuel Cells (DCFC). In direct carbon fuel cells, solid carbon (presumably a fuel derived from coal, pet-coke or biomass) is used directly in the anode, without an intermediate gasification step. Concepts with solid oxide, molten carbonate, and alkaline electrolytes are all under development. The thermodynamics of the reactions in a DCFC allow very high efficiency conversion. Therefore, if the technology can be developed into practical systems, it could ultimately have a significant impact on coal-based power generation. 

Direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) Molten hydroxide 600-850 Power generation... 

Balachov II, Hombostel MD, lipilin AS (2005) Direct coal fuel cells (DCFC) clean electricity from coal and carbon based fuels. The carbon fuel cell seminar. Palm Springs, CA Cao D, Sun Y, Wang G (2007) J Powtr Sources 167 250... 

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