Technical analysis of a hybrid solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine cycle

Abstract

The relatively high operating temperature of the solid oxide fuel cell allows for a highly efficient conversion to power, internal reforming, and high-quality by-product heat for cogeneration or a bottoming cycle. Besides, high-temperature fuel cells offer a good opportunity for coupling to a gas turbine. Fuel cell systems have demonstrated minimal air pollutant emissions and low greenhouse gas emissions. This paper focuses on the investigation and technical analysis of a direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell (DIR-SOFC) and a gas turbine (GT) system. The technical analysis comprises of an energy and exergy analysis of the hybrid cycle, using the Gibbs function minimization technique for the methane steam reforming process. The assessment is performed to determine the influence of the hybrid cycle operating temperature and pressure, steam-to-carbon ratio and fuel and oxidant usage in the fuel cell. Equilibrium calculations are made to find the ranges of inlet steam-to-carbon ratio and the operating current density of the fuel cell. After that, a hybrid system consists of a DIR-SOFC and a GT is evaluated using computer simulation. The results showed that the fuel cell is the main power producer system at the design point. The high-energy efficiency (around 62%) and exergy efficiency (around 58%) are achieved by the hybrid cycle compared to fuel cell efficiency (about 40%) and the GT (around 38%). The power ratio (SOFC/GT) found was 1.50. An analysis varying the fuel cell current density and the GT pressure ratio was performed showing that the fuel cell power production decreases about 7% with increasing current density when the GT becomes the main power-producing equipment. However, the system energy efficiency decreases with the reduction of power produced by the fuel cell.