Effect of temperature on the electrochemical oxidation of ash free coal and carbon in a direct carbon fuel cell

The present study proposes the application of ash-free coal (AFC) as a primary fuel in a direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) based on a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). AFC was produced by solvent extraction using microwave irradiation. The influence of AFC-to-carbonate ratio (3: 3, 3: 1, 3: 0 and 1: 3 g/g) on the DCFC performance at different temperatures (650, 750 and 850 oC) was systematically investigated with a coin-type cell. The performance of AFC was also compared with carbon and conventional hydrogen fuels. AFC without carbonate (AFC-to-carbonate ratio=3: 0 g/g) gave a comparable performance to other compositions, indicating that the gasification of AFC readily occurred without a carbonate catalyst at 850 oC. The ease of gasification of AFC led to a much higher performance than for carbon fuel, even at 650 oC, where carbon cannot be gasified with a carbonate catalyst.