A methane-fueled two-stage SOFC power generation system with carbon capture

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is an electrochemical power generation device capable of directly converting the chemical energy of fuel into electricity. Natural gas, a predominant fuel for SOFC, offers cost advantages in production, storage, and transportation compared to hydrogen. However, methane fueled SOFC power generation systems (CH₄-SOFC systems) face challenges of low efficiency and high CO₂ emissions. To tackle these issues, this paper proposes a novel two-stage CH₄-SOFC system with carbon capture. A system model was established using Aspen Plus for simulation and analysis. The results show that, compared to traditional CH₄-SOFC systems, the proposed system achieves a 10.3% increase in net electrical efficiency and an 80% reduction in CO₂ emissions. By incorporating two stages of SOFC stacks and a carbon capture device, the proposed system demonstrates notable advantages in terms of energy conservation and carbon emission reduction, thereby contributing to the engineering of CH₄-SOFC systems.