Operation of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Based Power System with Ammonia as a Fuel: Experimental Test and System Design

Linda Barelli, Gianni Bidini and Giovanni Cinti
Additional contact information
Linda Barelli: Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Gianni Bidini: Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Giovanni Cinti: Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-19

Abstract: Ammonia has strong potentialities as sustainable fuel for energy applications. NH 3 is carbon free and can be synthetized from renewable energy sources (RES). In Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, NH 3 reacts electrochemically thereby avoiding the production of typical combustion pollutants such as NOx. In this study, an ammonia-fueled solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) system design is proposed and a thermodynamic model is developed to evaluate its performance. A SOFC short stack was operated with NH 3 in a wide range of conditions. Experimental results are implemented in the thermodynamic model. Electrical efficiency of 52.1% based on ammonia Lower Heating Value is calculated at a net power density of 0.36 W cm FC −2 . The operating conditions of the after burner and of the ammonia decomposition reactor are studied by varying the values of specific parameters. The levelized cost of energy of 0.221 $ kWh −1 was evaluated, as introduced by the International Energy Agency, for a system that operates at nominal conditions and at a reference power output of 100 kW. This supports the feasibility of ammonia-fueled SOFC systems with reference to the carbon free energy market, specifically considering the potential development of green ammonia production.

Keywords: ammonia; SOFC; system; model; stack test (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6173/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6173/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:23:p:6173-:d:450313

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().