Three types of coal, anthracite, bituminous and lignite with no pretreatment, were investigated in hybrid direct carbon fuel cells (HDCFC). The HDCFC is composed of 1 mm YSZ electrolyte-supported cell with a NiO-YSZ anode and a LSM-YSZ cathode, and lithium-potassium carbonate mixed with coal in the anode chamber. Anthracite and bituminous coals show promising performance. Bituminous coal shows good initial cell performance as well as short term durability in two hour tests; whilst anthracite coal shows good initial cell performance but a slightly faster performance drop as compared to bituminous coal. It seems that coal with high carbon content and low sulphur content is desirable for direct carbon fuel cell application. Gas analysis shows that the ratio of carbon to oxygen content in coal is likely to be of importance for the cell performance in terms of carbon oxidation process.
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