Integration of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with an Organic Rankine Cycle and Absorption Chiller for Dynamic Generation of Power and Cooling for a Residential Application

Abstract

The high temperature exhaust heat from a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can be captured and used as the primary thermal energy source for bottoming cycles. In this study, the waste heat from a fuel cell is captured and processed either through an organic Rankin cycle (ORC) to provide extra power or an absorption chiller (AC) to provide cooling for meeting the dynamic cooling demands of a residence/community. A spatially resolved dynamic model was developed in Simulink to study dynamic characteristics of an SOFC system. Also, a dynamic model was developed for the ORC and AC to study the dynamic characteristics and performance of the integrated system. This model was then used to evaluate the efficiency, capacity, and dispatchability of the system, based upon meeting measured load profiles of residential buildings. Dynamic data from a residential complex were used as an input to evaluate the dynamic system model. The SOFC was capable of following the highly dynamic load with an average electrical efficiency of 46%. An average of 7% more power was produced through the ORC cycle with an average efficiency of 10%. The AC generated an average 125 kW of cooling with an average coefficient of performance (COP) of 1.08.

Application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics in Brazilian Residential Appliances towards a Rational Use of Energy

“…The prime cycle is usually found in appliances of any size from small scale residential to commercial and industrial applications. The absorption refrigeration cycle is usually applied in commercial and most industrial purposes; however, with the increased use of solar thermal heaters, this may also be incorporated into residential systems [ 34 ]. For this investigation, both cycles were simulated based on the methods of Jabardo and Stoecker [ 35 ] and Herold et al [ 36 ].…”

Review of Fuel Cell Technologies and Applications for Sustainable Microgrid Systems

“…The dynamic power and cooling generation have been achieved for household purposes by integrating a solid oxide FC with an organic Rankine cycle (oRc) and absorption chiller systems [144]. The authors proposed a dynamic, physical model that integrates the solid oxide FCs, oRc, and the absorption chiller to simulate the residential dynamic loads.…”

A Review of the Optimization and Control Strategies for Fuel Cell Power Plants in a Microgrid Environment

“…Integrating a SOFC with an organic Rankine cycle and absorption chiller frameworks proves useful in achieving the dynamic power and cooling generation for residential use. Author in [31] proposes a dynamic, physical model integrating the systems mentioned above to imitate the household's dynamic loads. A report was made that the hybrid plan integrating unique models of organic Rankine cycle and ingestion chiller could follow the electrical dynamic load and using the SOFC dynamic waste heat to produce more household electrical power or cooling [31].…”

“…Author in [31] proposes a dynamic, physical model integrating the systems mentioned above to imitate the household's dynamic loads. A report was made that the hybrid plan integrating unique models of organic Rankine cycle and ingestion chiller could follow the electrical dynamic load and using the SOFC dynamic waste heat to produce more household electrical power or cooling [31]. Such a study had an idea of exploring the high thermal property of the SOFCs together with bottoming cycles (as illustrated in Figure 7), in producing additional electrical energy, heat energy, or cooling in an attempt of increasing the efficiency of the system now as compared to when a single system is operated in a stand-alone configuration [2].…”

“…The research papers reviewed in this paper have not been covered in-depth in previous review papers to provide an all-inclusive view. Hence, this article includes various aspects such as fuel cells, power generation using them, their modes of operation, optimization, control strategies in a microgrid environment encompassing numerous facets such as FC grid connected system with active power generation and reactive power compensation features [26], experimental real-time optimization of a SOFC stack via constraint adaptation [27], coordinated control strategies for FC power plant in a microgrid [28], a cogeneration system based on SOFC and PEMFC with hybrid storage for off-grid applications [29], [30] [31], [32] and showing a comparative analysis along with current challenges and recommendations for future research studies. Hence, the information presented in this article would contribute greatly to the interested researchers in gaining the understandings in a greater way of recent developments in FC control strategies and microgrid environments.…”