Abstract
A hybrid power plant combining a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a micro gas turbine (MGT) is a suitable technology solution for decentralized energy production utilizing natural gas and biogas. Despite having high electrical efficiency and low emissions, the dynamic interactions between components can lead to damages of the system if a comprehensive control strategy is not applied. Before building a coupled hybrid power plant demonstrator, the “hybrid system emulators” approach is followed to solve any integration issues. A test rig consisting of an MGT and emulated SOFC is developed. The dynamics of the SOFC are reproduced by a real time model. The created cyber-physical system provides an effective platform to validate and optimize the control concepts for the future hybrid demonstrator by adding the complexity of the hybrid plant to the MGT test rig. The ability to develop and test the control strategy on such a system dramatically reduces the technology risk and increases the chances of success for the demonstrator operation.
Highlights
A hybrid power plant consisting of the combination of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a micro gas turbine (MGT) is a technology concept that can operate with both natural gas and biogas, promising electrical efficiency above 60 % [1, 2]
This paper aims to describe the integration of the developed control strategy for the hybrid power plant demonstrator (HyPP) concept at DLR by creating a cyber-physical system from the MGT test rig
It adjusts the natural gas mass flow to the combustion chamber in order to lessen the difference between the real turbine inlet temperature (TIT) and the turbine inlet temperature calculated from the operator set point
Summary
A hybrid power plant consisting of the combination of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a micro gas turbine (MGT) is a technology concept that can operate with both natural gas and biogas, promising electrical efficiency above 60 % [1, 2]. As a result of the high capital cost required to build hybrid demonstrators, only few studies include experimental data where measured efficiencies are usually lower than expected [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Hybrid systems pose many challenges with regard to system controls and component integration. Testing robustness and effectiveness of control strategies on hybrid plant demonstrators is expensive and involves high risks [11]. Despite the potential of the hybrid plant, the risks and impacts of the SOFC operation on the MGT and vice versa remains one major obstacle in bringing this technology to the present market
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