1. Stationary Cogeneration Fuel Cell for Structures Group J Carlos Gomez, Kunal Kekre, Heenam Lee, Alex Mraz, Paul Schochat NPRE 470 - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign May 3, 2016

2. Outline Goal and Background Design Parameters Calculations Conclusions Acknowledgements References

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

4. 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 48 - 66 MW 9 Peak gross energy consumption of 244 MW o 195 MW of heat provided from steam Gross energy averages around 193 MW 10

5. 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

6. Low CO 2 emissions and High Power Efficiency

7. 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

8. 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 3 2- -> CO 2 + 2H 2 0 + 2e - CO + CO 3 2- -> 2CO 2 + 2e - 40 - 100 mW/cm 2 at 800 o C 50-125 mA/cm 2 at 0.8V using carbon fuels 1.

9. 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

10. 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

11. Capital Cost Current MCFC costs $4,200 per kW, with $2,400 per kW from the fuel cell 7 2.8 MW power plants commercially available from FCE of Danbury, CT 84 MW power generation spread across 30 modules costs $353MM FCE DFC3000 schematic

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. References 1. http://jes.ecsdl.org/content/152/1/A80.short http://jes.ecsdl.org/content/152/1/A80.short 2. http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Utilities-Energy/abbottbrofinal.pdf?sfvrsn=0 http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Utilities-Energy/abbottbrofinal.pdf?sfvrsn=0 3. Lecture slides for March 31 2016 4. Fuel Cells textbook 5. http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly/#tabs-prices-2 http://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly/#tabs-prices-2 6. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032114000458 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032114000458 7. https://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/49072.pdf https://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/49072.pdf 8. http://energy.gov/eere/articles/washington-auto-show-spotlight-how-fuel-cell-electric- vehicles-work http://energy.gov/eere/articles/washington-auto-show-spotlight-how-fuel-cell-electric- vehicles-work 9. http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Utilities-Energy/copy-of-energy-to-campus- fy16_dec_usage_month_electricity.pdf?sfvrsn=0 http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Utilities-Energy/copy-of-energy-to-campus- fy16_dec_usage_month_electricity.pdf?sfvrsn=0 10. http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Utilities-Energy/gross-energy.pdf?sfvrsn=0 http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Utilities-Energy/gross-energy.pdf?sfvrsn=0