Fuel cell exhaust gas processing

A method, comprising:

• processing, by a solid oxide fuel cell, a natural gas feedstock to generate electricity and to generate exhaust gases as a byproduct, wherein the exhaust gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide;
• receiving, by a cooling device, the exhaust gases from the solid oxide fuel cell;
• cooling, by the cooling device, the exhaust gases,
• wherein cooling the exhaust gases condenses at least a portion of the water vapor to produce cooled exhaust gases;
• compressing, by a compression device, the cooled exhaust gases to produce compressed exhaust gases;
• and
• capturing, by a carbon capture device, at least a portion of the carbon dioxide from the compressed exhaust gases to produce treated exhaust gases, wherein the hydrogen and the carbon monoxide are majority components of the treated exhaust gases,
• wherein the cooling device, compression device, and carbon capture device are arranged in series, wherein the exhaust gases sequentially flow from the cooling device to the compression device to the carbon capture device,
• wherein the system is configured to use the treated exhaust gases as a primary feedstock for gas-to-liquid synthesis without electrochemical reduction of the carbon dioxide in the exhaust gases.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising:

• one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to:
• cause a solid oxide fuel cell to process a natural gas feedstock to generate electricity and to generate exhaust gases as a byproduct, wherein the exhaust gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide,
• cause a cooling device to:
• receive the exhaust gases from the solid oxide fuel cell, and
• cool the exhaust gases to produce cooled exhaust gases,
• wherein cooling the exhaust gases condenses at least a portion of the water vapor in the exhaust gases;
• cause a compression device to compress the cooled exhaust gases to produce compressed exhaust gases;
• and
• cause a carbon capture device to capture at least a portion of the carbon dioxide from the compressed exhaust gases to produce treated exhaust gases,
• wherein the hydrogen and the carbon monoxide are majority components of the treated exhaust gases,
• wherein the cooling device, compression device, and carbon capture device are arranged in series, wherein the exhaust gases sequentially flow from the cooling device to the compression device to the carbon capture device,
• wherein the system is configured to use the treated exhaust gases as a primary feedstock for gas-to-liquid synthesis without electrochemical reduction of the carbon dioxide in the exhaust gases.