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

TY - JOUR

T1 - A methane-fueled two-stage SOFC power generation system with carbon capture

AU - Zheng, Keqing

AU - Gao, Han

AU - Zhu, Meng

AU - Yan, Kai

AU - Li, Li

AU - Lin, Xue Mei

AU - Wang, Yue

AU - Ni, Meng

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025

PY - 2025/10/15

Y1 - 2025/10/15

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Carbon capture

KW - Methane

KW - SOFC system

KW - Two-stage SOFC stack

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105007428808

U2 - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.127066

DO - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.127066

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105007428808

SN - 1359-4311

VL - 277

JO - Applied Thermal Engineering

JF - Applied Thermal Engineering

M1 - 127066

ER -