Technical Development Issues and Dynamic Modeling of Gas Turbine and Fuel Cell Hybrid Systems

Abstract

This paper describes safety issues important to the operation of combined fuel cell and gas turbine (hybrid) systems, and provides motivation for building dynamic modeling tools to support their development. It also describes two models — a steam reformer and a fuel cell — that will be used to investigate the dynamic performance of a hybrid system. The present goals are to develop dynamic models for these two components, ensure their reliability, and obtain a basic understanding of their performance prior to integration into a complete hybrid system model. Because of the large physical domain to be analyzed in the integrated hybrid system, both reformer and fuel cell models are simplified to a one-dimensional system of equations. Model results are presented for a tubular, counterflow steam reformer showing methane conversion and temperature behavior during initial startup, and following several step change perturbations. For the fuel cell model, a generic planar type is analyzed showing voltage and current behavior following step changes in load resistance and fuel input. The results provide confidence in each model’s reliability, enabling them to be integrated for hybrid system simulation. Results from the integrated simulations will provide guidance on future hybrid technology development needs.