Effects of operating and design parameters on the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine system

Suther, Torgeir; Fung, Alan S.; Köksal, Murat; Zabihian, Farshid

doi:10.1002/er.1722

Cited by 38 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Because of the high temperatures in the SOFC it is possible to use a variety of fuels. With proper legislation and production techniques, biomass and waste derived fuels like ammonia, dimethyl ether (DME), ethanol, methanol, biodiesel can all be considered as sustainable carbon neutral sources [8,26,38,39]. Fuels such as ammonia have received attention lately as alternatives to conventional diesel oil for fuel cell applications [40].…”

Section: Fuel Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamic Analysis of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Gas Turbine Systems Operating with Various Biofuels

2012

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Solid oxide fuel cell–gas turbine (SOFC‐GT) systems provide a thermodynamically high efficiency alternative for power generation from biofuels. In this study biofuels namely methane, ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, and ammonia are evaluated exergetically with respect to their performance at system level and in system components like heat exchangers, fuel cell, gas turbine, combustor, compressor, and the stack. Further, the fuel cell losses are investigated in detail with respect to their dependence on operating parameters such as fuel utilization, Nernst voltage, etc. as well as fuel specific parameters like heat effects. It is found that the heat effects play a major role in setting up the flows in the system and hence, power levels attained in individual components. The per pass fuel utilization dictates the efficiency of the fuel cell itself, but the system efficiency is not entirely dependent on fuel cell efficiency alone, but depends on the split between the fuel cell and gas turbine powers which in turn depends highly on the nature of the fuel and its chemistry. Counter intuitively it is found that with recycle, the fuel cell efficiency of methane is less than that of hydrogen but the system efficiency of methane is higher.

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Section: Fuel Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamic Analysis of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Gas Turbine Systems Operating with Various Biofuels

2012

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“…Most studies are numerical, but at least one study (by Lim et al [18]) investigated an experimental GT-SOFC system and demonstrated improved efficiency and power density from the stack at high pressure. Some systems assume internal reforming SOFCs (IR-SOFC) [16,17,21,26] while others use external fuel reformers [18,22,20,23]. Power levels range from 5 kW [18] to 2.4 MW [21].…”

Section: B Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most investigations of integrated GT-SOFC systems have focused on ground-based, utility-scale power generation with either natural gas [16,17,18,19,20], methane [21,22], or syngas [23,24] as fuels. A system that uses a molten carbonate fuel cell has also been investigated [25].…”

Section: B Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Flow Path Configuration on the Performance of Hybrid Turbine - Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems for Aircraft Propulsion and Power

Waters¹,

Vannoy²,

Cadou³

2015

51st AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference

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This work investigates the use of gas turbine (GT) engine integrated solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to reduce fuel burn in aircraft with large electrical loads. The concept offers several advantages: the GT absorbs many SOFC balance of plant functions (supplying fuel, air, and heat to the SOFC) thereby reducing the quantity of system components; the GT supplies fuel and pressurized air that significantly increases SOFC performance; heat and unreacted fuel from the SOFC are recaptured by the GT offsetting system-level losses. The resulting system can supply more electrical power more efficiently than comparable engine-generator systems. A sensitivity analysis identifies important design parameters and translates uncertainties in model parameters into uncertainties in overall performance. Fuel burn reductions of 15-20% are possible on 35 kN rated engines at the 200 kW electric power level. GT-SOFCs are able to provide more electric power (factors ≥3 in some cases) than generator-based systems before encountering turbine inlet temperature limits. Aerodynamic drag effects of engine-airframe integration are the most important limiter of the combined propulsion/generation concept. However, up to 100-200 kW can be produced in high bypass ratio, high pressure ratio turbofans with minimal drag penalty.

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“…A number of studies have investigated integrated GT-SOFC systems for large-scale stationary power generation [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and at least one has considered a similar system with a molten carbonate fuel cell [16]. Natural gas [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]16] or syngas [14,15] are the fuels.…”

Section: B Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural gas [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]16] or syngas [14,15] are the fuels. Some use internal reforming SOFCs [7][8][9][10] while others use external fuel reformers [11][12][13][14]. Power levels range from 100 kW [9,16] to 2.4 MW [8].…”

Section: B Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engine-Integrated Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Efficient Electrical Power Generation on Aircraft

Waters

Cadou

2014

52nd Aerospace Sciences Meeting

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This work investigates the feasibility of using engine-integrated catalytic partial oxidation reactors (CPOX) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to increase the range/endurance of sensor-laden aircraft like unmanned air vehicles that have relatively large electrical power needs. Thermodynamic models for SOFCs, CPOx reactors, and three gas turbine engine types (a turbojet, a low bypass ratio turbofan, and a high bypass ratio turbofan) are developed and validated. A model of the gas turbine -fuel cell integration shows that 4% thermodynamic improvement is possible over traditional engine-generator approaches for a vehicle with a 10% electric power fraction (i.e., the ratio of electrical to total (electrical + propulsive) power demand). This improves to a 12% or 29% advantage at 30% and 50% power fractions, respectively. Preliminary estimates show that the mass of the SOFC systems is large, but the system has not yet been optimized and several strategies for achieving significant mass reductions are discussed. These include optimizing the geometry of the fuel processor and fuel cell elements, lowering the cell operating voltage, and operating at reduced fuel utilization. Another important finding is that the CPOX must be operated leaner as pressure is increased in order to avoid graphite formation. Also, small engine compression ratios result in flows that are not hot enough to sustain SOFC operation.

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Effects of operating and design parameters on the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine system

Cited by 38 publications

References 22 publications

Thermodynamic Analysis of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Gas Turbine Systems Operating with Various Biofuels

Thermodynamic Analysis of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Gas Turbine Systems Operating with Various Biofuels

Influence of Flow Path Configuration on the Performance of Hybrid Turbine - Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems for Aircraft Propulsion and Power

Engine-Integrated Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Efficient Electrical Power Generation on Aircraft

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