Stationary Cogeneration Fuel Cell for Structures Group J Carlos Gomez, Kunal Kekre, Heenam Lee, Alex Mraz, Paul Schochat NPRE University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign May 3, 2016

Outline Goal and Background Design Parameters Calculations Conclusions Acknowledgements References

Goals Environment o Emissions Sustainability o Non-Renewable Fuels Efficiency o Cogeneration Replace Abbott Power Plant with a Fuel Cell System

Background Abbott Power plant provides electricity and steam for UIUC using coal, natural gas, and fuel oils 2. Max power of 85 MW UIUC electricity usage ranges from MW 9 Peak gross energy consumption of 244 MW o 195 MW of heat provided from steam Gross energy averages around 193 MW 10

Proposal: Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) Operates above 600°C Stationary continuous power applications Efficiency around 50% 85-90% with cogeneration Pros Fuel flexibility Inexpensive metal catalyst High quality heat waste CO 2 capture/recycle Cons Corrosive molten carbonate electrolyte Expensive CO 2 capture/recycle Durability of electrolyte

Low CO 2 emissions and High Power Efficiency

Choice of Fuel and Oxidizer Natural Gas - Fuel o MCFC’s can reform natural gas internally o Cheap natural gas ($2.08/GJ) 5 relative to hydrogen ($28.13/GJ) 8 o MCFC’s not prone to CO/CO 2 poisoning O 2 - Oxidizer o Air brought in from outside

Design Parameters Internal Reformation: CH 4 + H 2 O -> 3H 2 + CO Cathode Reactions: ½ O 2 + CO 2 + 2e - -> CO3 2- Anode Reaction: H 2 + CO > CO 2 + 2H e - CO + CO > 2CO 2 + 2e mW/cm 2 at 800 o C mA/cm 2 at 0.8V using carbon fuels 1.

Electrical Cost $2.08 per GJ natural gas 50% efficiency Averaged 57 MW electrical needs of year round operation o 114 MW from natural gas required Annual cost of $7.5MM to produce 84 MW electricity for year round operation

MCFC Heat Cogeneration Cogeneration increases efficiency from 50% to 90% 84 MW of electricity generates 67 MW of heat Existing boilers to provide remaining heat o ~100 MW for peak heating needs, averaged 42 MW  $2.8MM per year of natural gas for heating Combined total of ~$10.3MM per year for natural gas

Capital Cost Current MCFC costs $4,200 per kW, with $2,400 per kW from the fuel cell MW power plants commercially available from FCE of Danbury, CT 84 MW power generation spread across 30 modules costs $353MM FCE DFC3000 schematic

Comparison Conventional power plant electrical efficiency ~40% o Increases cost by $13MM per year  27 year payback for MCFC Power plant cogeneration max efficiency of 80% o Difference of $1.3MM per year

Conclusions Not feasible to fully replace Abbott Power Plant with Fuel Cell o Viable to replace conventional, non-cogeneration power plants Potential uses in smaller, base-load power applications or expansions

Acknowledgements Thank you to Dr. Kim for teaching NPRE 470, and imparting his knowledge and experiences of fuel cells to the class. Special thanks to the TA’s Hoon Lee (top) and Zhiee- Jhia Ooi (bottom) for assistance in teaching and grading the class.

References Lecture slides for March Fuel Cells textbook vehicles-work vehicles-work 9. fy16_dec_usage_month_electricity.pdf?sfvrsn=0 fy16_dec_usage_month_electricity.pdf?sfvrsn=