Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

The Role Of Transport Phenomena In The Direct Oxidation Of Solid Fuels, Charles J. Banas

Master's Theses

Direct carbon fuel cells have shown promise for stationary power generation by utilizing the direct oxidation of a solid carbon fuel source at the anode. In laboratory settings, researchers have reported up to 300mA/cm2 of current density from these cells types which suffer from mass transport losses. This paper studies the surface properties of the solid fuel source, and describes the process of CO2 evolution through an analogy to pool boiling. In nucleate boiling (a subset of pool boiling) vapor bubbles grow from nucleation sites where gas are trapped in micro-cavities on the surface. Carbon surfaces possess these same features, …