FuelCell Energy and ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company (EMTEC) have agreed to extend their ongoing joint development agreement through 31 March 2024. (Earlier post.) The extension enables further development related to manufacturing scale-up and work towards advancing the carbonate fuel cell technology for point source carbon capture applications against a broader set of carbon capture opportunities including lower carbon intensity flue streams.

The extended development work will also enable continued joint marketing and sales efforts as well as performance improvement and cost optimization.

FuelCell Energy and EMTEC will continue to work on finalization of engineering and cost elements of a potential demonstration of the technology with ExxonMobil; a final investment decision on the demonstration project is expected later this year.

Carbonate fuel cells can efficiently capture and concentrate carbon dioxide from external sources. The exhaust flue gases from the coal- or gas-fired system are fed into the cathode side of the fuel cell. The CO2 in the exhaust is transferred to the anode side, where it is much more concentrated and easy to separate.

CO2 from the anode exhaust stream is purified by chilling the stream to extract CO2 liquid. Purified CO2 can then be transported by pipeline for enhanced oil recovery applications or underground storage.

The modular design of the technology allows it to be used in a number of applications in a wide range of locations and enables high efficiency operation while permitting businesses in hard-to-decarbonize industrial and commercial sectors to advance their goals.