Sulfur management and utilization in molten metal anode solid oxide fuel cells fuels cells

A molten metal anode solid oxide fuel cell system (MMA-SOFC) comprising:

• a first MMA-SOFC comprising a first cathode, a first molten metal anode, and a first solid electrolyte disposed between the first cathode and the first molten metal anode, wherein the first molten metal anode is configured to oxidize molten metal to produce metal oxides and electrons;
• a second MMA-SOFC comprising a second cathode, a second molten metal anode, and a second solid electrolyte disposed between the second cathode and the second molten metal anode;
• a fuel contactor in fluid communication with the first MMA-SOFC and the second MMA-SOFC;
• a molten metal conduit configured to deliver molten metal between the first molten metal anode, the second molten metal anode, and the fuel contactor;
• and
• one or more external electric circuits configured to generate power from the electrons produced in both the first MMA-SOFC and the second MMA-SOFC, wherein,
• the fuel contactor comprises a regeneration region configured to reduce the metal oxides and produces metal sulfides in the molten metal upon reaction with sulfur-containing fuel and a sulfation region configured to produce metal sulfides from metals in molten metal delivered by the second molten metal anode, and
• the second molten metal anode is configured to oxidize metal sulfides in metal sulfides-containing molten metal to produce metals and electrons.

A method for co-generating electricity in two separate molten metal anode solid oxide fuel cells (MMA-SOFCs) comprising:

• producing metal oxides and electrons by oxidizing molten metal in a first molten metal anode of a first MMA-SOFC;
• producing metal and metal sulfides by reacting the molten metal and metal oxides with a sulfur-containing fuel;
• producing metals and electrons by oxidizing the metal sulfides in a second molten metal anode of a second MMA-SOFC;
• and
• co-generating electricity by collecting the electrons from the first MMA-SOFC and the second MMA-SOFC in an external electric circuit.

A method for generating electricity from metal sulfide in an individual molten metal anode solid oxide fuel cell (MMA-SOFC) comprising:

• providing a MMA-SOFC comprising a cathode, a molten metal anode, a solid electrolyte disposed between the cathode and the molten metal anode, wherein the MMA-SOFC is in fluid communication with a fuel contactor;
• producing metal sulfides and H2 in a molten metal stream by reacting molten metal with a sulfur-containing fuel comprising only H2S, or one or more of H2S, sulfur, sulfones, sulfoxides or combinations thereof;
• producing metals and electrons by oxidizing the metal sulfides containing molten metal in the molten metal anode of the MMA-SOFC;
• and
• generating electricity by collecting the electrons from the MMA-SOFC in an external electric circuit.