PARAMETRIC STUDY OF A DIRECT CARBON SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL THAT UTILIZES GASIFICATION FOR EFFICIENT ENERGY PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF A PROTOTYPE TO PROVIDE PROOF OF CONCEPT

Abstract

The energy demand of Pakistan is steadily increasing and so is the gap between energy supply and demand. There has been a shift towards renewable sources of energy in some parts of the world, particularly Europe. Pakistan, however, continues to rely on fossil fuels to generate electricity. The advent of fuel cells has allowed us to more efficiently extract energy from fossil fuels. Fuel cells can be more than twice as efficient as their combustion counterparts. With our aim to work towards a sustainable future for Pakistan and for humanity, we aim to accelerate the introduction of fuel cells into the energy mix of Pakistan by designing a solid oxide direct carbon fuel cell that will be able to convert the chemical energy of coal into electrical energy by incorporating a gasifier into our design. Our project involves a parametric design of the fuel cell, encompassing all critical elements of a fuel cell from the material of the electrodes to the ideal fuel and the gasifier conditions. By simulating the entire model of the fuel cell, we wish to optimize its performance parameters such as the current density and the power density and finally by developing a prototype single stack fuel cell, wish to highlight its importance towards creating a feasible future for humanity.