Direct Carbon Conversion Fuel Cell

The Technology

SARA has developed a revolutionary new process that doubles the energy output from coal by producing liquid logistics fuels and solid carbon fuel for carbon fuel-cell power-generation systems.

The technology builds on SARA’s patented Carbon-Air Fuel Cell (US Patent #6,200,697), as well as other proprietary technologies.

In this process, coal is separated into liquid hydrocarbons and solid, mostly carbon particulates. The liquid hydrocarbons are further refined into logistics fuels that are suitable for hydrogen fuel cells used to power military vehicles.

The solid particulates are further processed into solid carbon fuel that is compatible with a direct carbon-fuel cell (DCFC), which generates electrical power.

The DCFC generates electricity from solid carbon using an electrochemical process which is more efficient than combustion. The process converts a 100 megawatt-hour amount of coal into 33 megawatt-hours equivalent of transporation fuels and 31 megawatt-hours of electricity.

DCFC technology doesn’t require expensive sulfur-sensitive catalysts, so it effectively utilizes fuels with high sulfur content, and does not require any hydrogen to generate electricity.

In the DCFC process, 100 MWh of coal is used to produce 33 MWh equivalent of
liquid petroleum and 31 MWh of electricity.

The Applications

• Combustion-less coal-based DCFC power plant for primary power applications
• Emergency backup power for business and residential facilities
• Primary power for remote locations
• Primary power for transportation applications
• Liquid logistics fuels to power military vehicles

SARA's latest patented cell design separates Anode and Cathode compartments.

The Advantages

• Combines effective methods that extract the liquid hydrocarbons from coal and produce a solid carbon fuel
• Generates two separate energy products (liquid petroleum and electricity) from coal, America’s major domestic energy source
• Utilizes fuels with high sulfur content and doesn’t require expensive sulfur-sensitive catalysts
• Logistics fuels produced are low sulfur
• Does not require hydrogen to generate electricity
• Reduces dependence on foreign oil
• Provides independent source of logistics fuels
• Exceeds 35% efficiency of current coal-burning electrical-generation plants

For further reading, please download: Article - Fuel Cell Review - Adobe PDF File

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