Molten carbonate fuel cell product design improvement tracer tests. Topical report, December 20, 1995--December 20, 1996

ERC is developing the detailed design of the commercial entry MW-class power plant. The product requirements and specifications have been derived. The planned baseline power plant is rated at 2.85 MW on natural gas and has a heat rate of 6.22 {times} 10{sup 6} J/kWh (5900 Btu/kWh; 58% LHV). Additional optional features will be available to include non-standard site conditions and other fuels. In parallel, the baseline product design has progressed to the final design phase. The preliminary product design, which also included parametric optimization, major component vendor interaction, and cost estimation, has been completed during the past year. The power plant approach consists of several factory-constructed truck-transportable modules. A computer-generated power plant layout is shown in a figure. The proposed power plant is expected to have a gross output of 3.03 MW, providing net 2.85 MW AC. The parasitic power loss is approximately 6%, of which, inverter, step-up transformer, BOP motors, and miscellaneous loads consume 2%, 1%, 2%, and 1%, respectively