A fuel cell fuelled by carbonaceous graphite is proposed. The tubular fuel cell, with the carbon in a fixed-bed form on the anode side, is employed to convert directly the chemical energy of carbon into electricity. Surface platinum electrodes are coated on the cell electrolyte, which is a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) tube of 1.5 mm thickness. The effect of using different sizes of graphite powder (in the range 0-180 mu m) as fuel is analyzed. Power density and actual open-circuit voltage (OCV) values are measured as the temperature is varied from 0 to 950 degrees C. The cell provides a maximum power density of 16.8 mW cm(-2) and an OCV of 1.115 Vat the highest temperature condition (950 degrees C) tested in this study. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.