FUEL CELL-BASED PROCESS FOR GENERATING ELECTRICAL POWER

摘要

The present invention is directed to a process for generating electricity in a solid oxide fuel cell system with low carbon dioxide emissions. A mixture of steam and a hydrocarbon containing feed is reformed to produce a reformed product gas containing hydrogen. A first gas stream containing at least 0.6 mole fraction hydrogen is separated from the reformed product gas and fed to the anode of a solid oxide fuel cell. The first gas stream is mixed with an oxidant at one or more anode electrodes in the fuel cell to generate electricity. An anode exhaust stream comprising hydrogen and water is separated from the fuel cell. The anode exhaust stream and/or a cathode exhaust stream from the fuel cell is fed into the reforming reactor, where heat is exchanged between the hot anode and/or cathode exhaust streams and the reactants in the reforming reactor. Carbon dioxide is produced in relatively small quantities in the process due to the thermal efficiency of the process.