Exploring the Potential of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells for CO2Capture and Concentration: A Feasibility Analysis in the Steel Industry

This work investigates the use of molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) to capture and concentrate CO2 emissions in the steel industry using real industrial data from Duferco Engineering S.p.A. Three main simulations were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the MCFC unit in parallel with various configurations: oxy-combustion, CO2 conversion, and liquefaction. The results indicate that for a furnace exhaust flow rate of 40,000 N m3/h, a MCFC unit, fueled with biomethane, with a size between 5.6 and 5.9 MW, is needed to have a zero CO2 process. All scenarios achieve a CO2 reduction greater than 100% thanks to the use of biomethane in the methane steam reformer. The various configurations were compared through the Total Energy Consumption Index (TEC index), which represents the overall energy demand for the CO2 capture and treatment process per unit of captured CO2. Among the configurations, oxy-combustion with cryogenic separation is the least energy-intensive (TEC: 4.7 MJ/kg), while methanation by electrolysis has the highest energy requirements (TEC: 7.3 MJ/kg). Furthermore, sensitivity analyses suggest that fossil methane can replace biomethane while still achieving at least 85% CO2 reduction, highlighting the potential of MCFCs in CO2 capture in the steel industry.