CO2 cryogenic separation from combined cycles integrated with molten carbonate fuel cells

This paper investigates an advanced cycle with limited CO2 emissions based on the integration of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFC) in a natural gas fired combined cycle power plant in order to capture CO2 from the exhaust of the gas turbine. The gas turbine flue gases actually are used as cathode feeding for an MCFC, where CO2 is moved from the cathode to anode side, concentrating the CO2 in the anode exhaust. This stream is then cooled in the heat recovery steam generator and sent to a cryogenic CO2 removal section. The plant shows the potential to achieve a carbon capture ratio of 80%, while taking advantage from the introduction of the fuel cell, the final electric efficiency is about the same of the original combined cycle (58.7% LHV), and the power output increases by about 22%, giving a potentially relevant advantage with respect to competitive carbon capture technologies.