Pursuing the key national goal of clean and efficient utilization of the abundant domestic coal resources for power generation, this study was conducted to evaluate the potential of optimizing the integrated catalytic gasification/carbonate fuel cell power generation system. ERC in close collaboration with Fluor Daniel (providing engineering design and costing), conducted a detailed system configuration study to evaluate various catalytic gasification/carbonate fuel cell power plant configurations and compare them to present day, as well as emerging, alternate coal-based power plant technologies to assess their competitive position. A Topical Report (1992) was submitted documenting this effort, and the three catalytic gasification case studies are summarized in Appendix A. Results of this study indicate that system efficiencies approaching 55% (HHV) can be achieved by integrating low temperature catalytic gasification with high efficiency carbonate fuel cells. Thermal balance in the gasifier is achieved without oxygen by recycling hydrogen from the fuel cell anode exhaust. A small amount of air is added to the gasifier to minimize hydrogen recycle. In order to validate the assumptions made in the case configurations, experimental studies were performed to determine the reactivity of Illinois No. 6 coal with the gasification catalysts. The reactivity of the catalyzed coal has significant bearing on gasifier sizing and hence system cost and efficiency.