TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethylene and power cogeneration from proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFC)
T2 - A thermo-electrochemical modelling study
AU - Li, Zheng
AU - He, Qijiao
AU - Wang, Chen
AU - Xu, Qidong
AU - Guo, Meiting
AU - Bello, Idris Temitope
AU - Ni, Meng
N1 - Funding Information:
M. NI thanks the grants (Project Number: PolyU 152064/18E and N_PolyU552/20 ) from Research Grant Council, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong SAR .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/7/15
Y1 - 2022/7/15
N2 - Ethylene is a vital chemical worldwide but its production is very energy-intensive with high CO2 emissions. C2H6-fueled proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are promising electrochemical processes for cogeneration of ethylene and electric power with high performance and low emission. Herein, a tubular thermos-electrochemical model is established to investigate the characteristics of C2H6-fueled PCFC. Parametric studies are performed to examine the effects of operating voltage, inlet fuel flow rate, and inlet temperature on PCFC cogeneration performance. PCFC under open-circuit voltage (OCV) condition at 700 °C, the ethane conversion and ethylene selectivity are 15.69% and 99.47%, respectively. The ethylene production is enhanced by the electrochemical reaction. At 0.4 V and 700 °C, the conversion of ethane is increased to 32.59% and the PCFC can deliver a peak power density of 146.12 mW cm−2. Increasing the inlet temperature significantly improves the cogeneration performance of PCFC but also increases the temperature gradient in the cell. In addition, H2 depletion in the anode results in local electrochemical performance degradation. The results demonstrate the enhanced ethylene production by electrochemical processes and the operating and structural parameters can be optimized in the subsequent study to further improve ethylene production.
AB - Ethylene is a vital chemical worldwide but its production is very energy-intensive with high CO2 emissions. C2H6-fueled proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are promising electrochemical processes for cogeneration of ethylene and electric power with high performance and low emission. Herein, a tubular thermos-electrochemical model is established to investigate the characteristics of C2H6-fueled PCFC. Parametric studies are performed to examine the effects of operating voltage, inlet fuel flow rate, and inlet temperature on PCFC cogeneration performance. PCFC under open-circuit voltage (OCV) condition at 700 °C, the ethane conversion and ethylene selectivity are 15.69% and 99.47%, respectively. The ethylene production is enhanced by the electrochemical reaction. At 0.4 V and 700 °C, the conversion of ethane is increased to 32.59% and the PCFC can deliver a peak power density of 146.12 mW cm−2. Increasing the inlet temperature significantly improves the cogeneration performance of PCFC but also increases the temperature gradient in the cell. In addition, H2 depletion in the anode results in local electrochemical performance degradation. The results demonstrate the enhanced ethylene production by electrochemical processes and the operating and structural parameters can be optimized in the subsequent study to further improve ethylene production.
KW - Cogeneration
KW - Ethane dehydrogenation
KW - Ethylene production
KW - Numerical modelling
KW - Proton ceramic fuel cell
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129425085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2022.231503
DO - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2022.231503
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85129425085
SN - 0378-7753
VL - 536
JO - Journal of Power Sources
JF - Journal of Power Sources
M1 - 231503
ER -
