Chapter 14, Problem 43E

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The hardware costs $\text{per}\text{killowatt}-\text{hour}$ and others costs which are involved in the generation of electricity are to be calculated with given cost of MCFC and lifetime.

Concept Introduction:

Oxidation is the addition of an electronegative element or the removal of an electropositive element in a chemical reaction.

Reduction is the addition of an electropositive element or the removal of an electronegative element in a chemical reaction.

A chemical reaction in which oxidation process and reduction process take place simultaneously is called a redox reaction.

An oxidizing agent is a substance that has the capacity to oxidize other substances and get reduced in a chemical reaction.

A reducing agent is a substance that has the capacity to reduce other substances and get oxidized in a chemical reaction.

The hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell is a device that generates electricity by the chemical reaction between a source fuel and an oxidant.

In a fuel cell, the chemical energy is directly converted into electricity by the oxidation of methane.

In conventional power plants where methane is used as a fuel, the electricity is generated by the oxidation of methane.

The three steps involved in the production of electricity are as:

$\text{chemical}\text{energy}\stackrel{1}{\to }\text{heat energy}\stackrel{2}{\to }\text{mechanical energy}\stackrel{3}{\to }\text{electrical energy}$

The molten carbonate fuel cells use potassium carbonate as an electron transfer medium and methane is used as a fuel.

The total hours of operation are calculated as.

$\text{The}\text{total}\text{hours}\text{of}\text{operation}=\text{Total}\text{years}\times \text{hours}\text{per}\text{day}\times \text{days}\text{per}\text{year}$.

The hardware costs $\text{per}\text{killowatt}-\text{hour}$ are calculated as:

$\text{The}\text{hardware}\text{costs}=\frac{\text{MCFC}\text{costs}}{\text{The}\text{total}\text{hours}\text{of}\text{operation}}$.