Landfill Gas Cleanup for Carbonate Fuel Cell Power Generation: Final Report

Landfill gas represents a significant fuel resource both in the United States and worldwide. The emissions of landfill gas from existing landfills has become an environmental liability contributing to global warming and causing odor problems. Landfill gas has been used to fuel reciprocating engines and gas turbines, and may also be used to fuel carbonate fuel cells. Carbonate fuel cells have highconversion efficiencies and use the carbon dioxide present in landfill gas as an oxidant. There are, however, a number of trace contaminants in landfill gas that contain chlorine and sulfur which are deleterious to fuel cell operation. Long-term economical operation of fuel cells fueled with landfill gas will, therefore, require cleanup of the gas to remove these contaminants. The overallobjective of the work reported here was to evaluate the extent to which conventional contaminant removal processes could be combined.