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Direct Conversion of Coal Derived Carbon in Fuel Cells

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Recent Trends in Fuel Cell Science and Technology

Abstract

A long-held dream of early energy science and technology has been a fuel cell that would directly convert coal char (if not raw coal) into electric power—bypassing the emission problems of combustion and the efficiency limitations of thermal cycles. Such a fuel cell would generate electric power from an electrochemical reaction similar to the combustion reaction of carbon:

$$ C + O_2 = CO_2 (\Delta H^0 _{298 K} = - 94.05 kcal/mole, E^0 = 1.02 {\text{V at }}750^\circ {\text{C}}) $$
(1)

As an example, the fuel cell (Fig. 1) might use carbon plates or particulates wetted with a molten alkali carbonate electrolyte, a melt saturated porous ceramic separator, and an air electrode catalyzed by lithiated NiO, such as used in the molten carbonate hydrogen fuel cell (Cherepy et al, 2005; Vutetakis, 1985; Weaver et al, 1979).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Energy Systems, Materials Science and Technology Division, Chemistry and Materials Science Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-352, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA

    John F. Cooper

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  1. John F. Cooper
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 110 016, India

    Suddhasatwa Basu

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Cooper, J.F. (2007). Direct Conversion of Coal Derived Carbon in Fuel Cells. In: Basu, S. (eds) Recent Trends in Fuel Cell Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68815-2_10

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