Introducing Anode Fluidization into a Tubular Liquid Antimony Anode Direct Carbon Fuel Cell

Liquid antimony is considered to be a promising anode for direct carbon fuel cell. The pilot system built in this research is made up with fuel supplement unit, cooling sub-system and power generating core block with tubular SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell) planted into liquid antimony bath. The metal bath serves as anode of direct carbon fuel cell and shall be fluidized during fuel cell operation. The fluidize wind acts as a carrier as well as a stirrer, for it carries pulverized coal directly into liquid antimony bath to feed the fuel cell before mixing the coal up with antimony anode. Well-stirred fluidized anode promotes the fuel cell performance, enhancing heat and mass transfer in the anode region, reducing the risk of thermal shock of tubular SOFC as well as accelerating the electrochemical oxidation of carbon fuel at the same time. The system exhibits stable performance during operation, and well-designed setup of liquid metal bath makes it much easier for stack assembly and system scale up, on the other hand, continuous fuel supply procedure employed in this system will also inspire direct carbon fuel cell operation in its future application.