Efficient, affordable, carbon-neutral power: Advanced solid oxide fuel cell-electrolyzer system
Xinmiao Wei, Shivom Sharma, Jan Van herle, François Maréchal
Abstract
The alarming increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, primarily attributed to human-induced fossil fuel combustion for power generation, underscores the urgency for sustainable solutions. The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is a promising candidate for clean power and heat production. This study introduces an innovative system integrating SOFC with solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) to enhance CO 2 capture. Traditionally, the SOFC system converts about 85% of the fuel into electricity, with any unconverted fuel undergoing combustion, yielding water and CO 2 . In this study, an enhanced SOFC system equipped with various CO 2 capture technologies has been evaluated, including post-combustion capture through amine absorption and membrane separation and burner oxy-combustion with pressure swing adsorption for air-to-oxygen separation, combined with SOEC for oxygen production from water and CO 2 . Criteria such as efficiency, costs, CO 2 capture rate, and purity have been used for evaluation. Notably, the innovative SOFC-SOEC configuration achieves 100% CO 2 capture rate and purity. While the efficiencies of different integrated SOFC systems are comparable, membrane separation exhibits lower CO 2 capture rates, pressure swing adsorption results in decreased purity, and amine absorption requires a more substantial investment. Interestingly, the active area required for the SOEC is a mere 1.3% of the SOFC active area. The novel SOFC-SOEC system has proven to be a compact, long-term, and cost-effective solution, showing significant potential in advancing the transition towards cleaner and more sustainable power generation. • Multi-criteria analysis of CO 2 capture technologies integrated with SOFC system. • Advanced SOFC-SOEC system for power production with 100% CO 2 capture and purity. • Multi-objective optimization and heat integration of the advanced SOFC-SOEC system. • High system electrical efficiency exceeding 62% for different integrated systems. • Attain electricity production costs as low as 0.086 USD/kWh with SOFC-SOEC system.