Abstract
With countless global industries pledging and pursuing decarbonization targets set for the 2030 – 2050 timeframe, the aerospace industry faces many key challenges including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, contrail abatement, and development/adoption of technologies with higher Fuel-to-Electricity (FTE) conversion efficiencies. One such technology identified as a potential fit for commercial aircraft is the solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine (SOFC-GT) hybrid power system. Progress in system-level SOFC-GT modeling is critical to produce higher fidelity feasibility studies used to influence SOFC design and performance targets of the future. In this study, the first ProMax 5.0-based SOFC-GT model was developed, validated, and optimized. The impact of process configuration, balance-of-plant, and operating conditions were investigated. An optimal process design comprising 8 SOFC stacks and 7 Energy Storage and Power Generation (ESPG) modules with a total power output of > 7.0-MW and FTE conversion efficiencies of 73 – 76% is reported. Additionally, preliminary airplane architecture with the 7 onboard ESPG modules is presented to show the feasibility of future, hybrid electric airplane design.
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