Objective
High-T fuel cells like the MCFC are the best candidate for exploiting cleanly & efficiently non-conventional fuels of organic or waste-derived origin that are one of the keys to a sustainable energy infrastructure & have very strong potential, but the degradation caused by the contaminants in these fuels must be addressed. MCFC-CONTEX aims to tackle this problem from 2 sides: 1) investigating poisoning mechanisms caused by alternative fuels & determining precisely MCFC tolerance limits for long-term endurance; 2) optimizing fuel cleaning to achieve tailored degrees of purification according to MCFC operating conditions & tolerance. The 1st line of activity requires extensive & long-term cell testing, so in parallel methods will be sought to increase experimental effectiveness: a numerical model will be set up to simulate & predict the effects of contaminants, and as knowledge is gained of the poisoning mechanisms through the experimental & simulation campaigns, accelerated testing procedures will be conceived & validated. The 2nd line of investigation entails characterization & development of clean-up materials & processes, focusing on the most promising options to be selected at the start of the project. To carry out this research, real-time & highly accurate contaminant detection methods are necessary which have to be implemented in the fuel-clean-up-MCFC chain to monitor the fate of the harmful species & thus deduce their effects. This will be the 3rd line of activity. Outcome of the project will be: increased understanding of poisoning mechanisms & a set of operating conditions-dependent tolerance limits for the MCFC; a numerical model for prediction of contaminant-induced degradation effects; validated accelerated testing procedures; a prototypal clean-up system optimized for upgrading selected non-conventional fuel gases to established MCFC requirements; a reliable trace species detection system for monitoring of fuel quality & process control.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
FCH-JU-2008-1
See other projects for this call
Coordinator
00196 Roma
Italy
Participants (10)
Participation ended
88045 Friedrichshafen
Participation ended
16152 Genova
80333 Muenchen
06100 Ankara
16126 Genova
100 44 Stockholm
Participation ended
050912 Bucharest
1049 Brussels
06123 Perugia
08940 Cornella De Llobregat Barcelona