Plastic waste fuelled solid oxide fuel cell system for power and carbon nanotube cogeneration

Abstract

This paper reports a novel process for simultaneous power generation and green treatment of plastic waste by a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) integrated with pyrolysis-gasification processes. With an electrolyte-supported configuration, the SOFC delivers a power output of 71 mW cm−2 at 800 °C, which is improved to 280 mW cm−2 after applying reforming catalyst. The microstructures and properties of the reforming catalyst before and after operation, the components of the pyrolysis products of plastic waste, and the mechanism and effect of the reforming catalyst to the SOFC are analysed and discussed in detail. In addition, carbon nanotubes are observed in the catalytic pyrolysis of plastic waste, suggesting it is also a potential technology for electricity-carbon nanotube cogeneration. This work demonstrates the feasibility of SOFCs for electricity-carbon nanotube cogeneration and green treatments of municipal solid wastes simultaneously.