Investigation of the influence of fuel type on energy indicators of an electrochemical generator as a PART of a cogeneration unit

Abstract The influence of the type of fuel such as hydrogen, methane, motor diesel fuel, ethanol, motor gasoline and methanol on the fuel utilization ratio, the specific consumption per unit of electrical and heat power generated, the efficiency of the catalytic burner, the solid oxide fuel cell battery and the electrochemical generator has been studied. It has been shown that hydrogen is the best fuel in terms of energy indicators, and methanol is the worst one. For hydrogen, the fuel utilization ratio and specific fuel consumption for the production of electrical power and heat power supplied to heat networks are equal to 1; 0.122 kg r.f./kW·h and 34 kg r.f./GJ, respectively, while for methanol these indicators are 0.359; 0.275 kg r.f./kW·h and 83.7 kg r.f./GJ, respectively. For other types of fuels studied the energy indicators lie between the specified values.