A Study on the Effect of Coal Properties on the Electrochemical Reactions in the Direct Carbon Fuel Cell System

Performance evaluation of a direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) was conducted according to coals and a graphite particle. Several fuel properties such as thermal reactivity, textural structure, gas adsorption characteristic, and functional groups on the surface of fuels were investigated and their effects on electrochemistry were discussed. The strong carbon structure inside of fuels led the rapid potential decreasing in high current density region, because it caused small surface area and low pore volume. The functional groups on the surface were related to the low current density region. The maximum current density and power density of fuels were affected by the total carbon content in fuels. The effect of operating conditions such as stirring rate and operating temperature was investigated in this study.