Abstract
Analytic study based on energy analysis is conducted on a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) integrated in a gas turbine power plant GT. The Tunisian natural gas is used as fuel for the SOFC and the GT cycle. An external pre-reforming system is installed before the SOFC. Heat recovery systems are adopted to valorize the waste heat at the SOFC and GT exhausts. The gas from the SOFC exhaust is also used as additional supply of the combustion chamber. The equations governing the electrochemical processes and the energy balances of the power plant components are established. Numerical simulations using EES software are performed. The influences of key operating parameters, such as ambient temperature, air flow, pre-reforming fraction and fuel utilization on the performance of the SOFC–GT hybrid system, are analyzed. The integration of the SOFC enhances the hybrid cycle efficiency of about 50%. The increase of the ambient temperature reduces the system efficiencies. The utilization factor has a negative effect on the SOFC temperature and voltage which leads to a decrease in the system performances, while the pre-reforming fraction has a positive effect on the indicated parameters. The SOFC voltage increases with the air molar flow rate. However, required air compressor power becomes important. That reduces significantly the SOFC efficiency. A small improvement of about 2% is obtained for the hybrid cycle efficiency SOFC–GT.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- SOFC:
-
Solid oxide fuel cell
- GT:
-
Gas turbine
- HE:
-
Heat exchanger
- \(V_{\mathrm{ohm}}\) :
-
Ohmic polarization (V)
- \(V_{\mathrm{act}}\) :
-
Activation polarization (V)
- \(V_{\mathrm{conc}}\) :
-
Concentration polarization (V)
- I :
-
Current density (A/m\(^{2}\))
- \(R_{\mathrm{e}}\) :
-
The resistance (\(\Omega \))
- \(\delta _j\) :
-
The thickness (m)
- \(\rho _j\) :
-
The specific electric resistivity of the anode, cathode, electrolyte and interconnect
- \(A_j\) :
-
The area (m\(^{2})\)
- \(\varepsilon \) :
-
The porosity coefficient
- \(\tau \) :
-
The tortuosity coefficient
- \(D_{1,K}\) :
-
The Knudsen diffusion coefficient
- \(\sigma _{12} \) :
-
Collision diameter
- \(\varOmega _{12}\) :
-
Collision integral
- PR:
-
The pressure ratio
- k:
-
The specific heat ratio
- \(\dot{m}_\mathrm{a}\) :
-
The mass of dry air the ratio (kg/s)
- \(\dot{m}_\mathrm{v}\) :
-
The mass of vapor (kg/s)
- \(\dot{m}_\mathrm{f}\) :
-
The mass of fuel (kg/s)
- \(T_{\mathrm{am}}\) :
-
Ambient temperature (\(^\circ \hbox {C}\))
- \({\varvec{\upeta }}\) :
-
Energetic efficiency
- \(U_{\mathrm{f}}\) :
-
Utilization factor
- \(V_{\mathrm{SOFC}}\) :
-
SOFC voltage (V)
- \(X_{\mathrm{reform}}\) :
-
Pre-reforming fraction
- \(\dot{\eta }_\mathrm{air}\) :
-
Air flow (mol/s)
- \({\varvec{\upeta }}\hbox {c}\) :
-
Isentropic efficiency
- \(P_{\mathrm{SOFC}}\) :
-
SOFC power output (MW)
- \(W_{\mathrm{GT}}\) :
-
Gas turbine power output (MW)
- \(W_{\mathrm{aux}}\) :
-
Auxiliary power (MW)
References
Massardo, A.F.; Lubelli, F.: Internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell–gas turbine combined cycles (IRSOFC–GT): part A—cell model and cycle thermodynamic analysis. J. Eng. Gas Turbine Power 122, 27–35 (2000)
Barelli, L.; Bidini, G.; Ottaviano, A.: Part load operation of SOFC/GT hybrid systems: stationary analysis. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 37, 16140–16150 (2012)
El-Emama, R.S.; Dincera, I.; Naterera, G.F.: Energy and exergy analyses of an integrated SOFC and coal gasification system. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 37, 1689–1697 (2012)
Horlock, J.H.: Combined power plants: past, present and future. Trans. ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power 117, 608–616 (1995)
Kelhofer, R.: Combined Cycle Gas and Steam Power Plants. Fairmount Press, Inc, Lilburn (1991)
Massardo, A.F.; Lubelli, F.: Internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine: part A: cell model and cyclethermodynamic analysis. J. Eng. Gas Turbine Power 122, 27–35 (2000)
Dincer, I.; Rosen, M.; Zamfirescu, C.: Exergetic performance analysis of a gas turbine cycle integrated with a solid oxidefuel cells. J. Energy Resour. Technol. 131, 1–11 (2009)
Saisirirat, P.: The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and gas turbine (GT). Hybrid Syst. Numer. Model Energy Procedia 79, 845–850 (2015)
Yi, Y.; Rao, A.D.; Brouwer, J.; Samuelsen, G.S.: Analysis and optimization of a solid oxide fuel cell and intercooled gas turbine (SOFC–ICGT) hybrid cycle. J. Power Sources 132, 77–85 (2004)
Inui, Y.; Yanagisawa, S.; Ishida, T.: Proposal of high performance SOFC combined power generation system with carbon dioxide recovery. Energy Convers. Manage. 44(4), 597–609 (2003)
Chan, S.H.; Ho, H.K.; Tian, Y.: Modelling of simple hybrid solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine power plant. J. Power Sources 109(1), 111–120 (2002)
Massardo, A.F.; Lubelli, F.: Internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine combined cycles (IRSOFC-GT): part A-cell model and cycle thermodynamic analysis. J. Eng. Gas Turbine Power 122, 27–35 (2000)
Arsalis, A.: Thermodynamic modeling and parametric study or hybrid SOFC-gas turbine-steam turbine power plants ranging from 1.5 to 10 MWe. J. Power Sources 181, 313–326 (2008)
Ishak, F.; Dincer, I.; Zamfirescu, C.: Energy and exergy analyses of direct ammonia solid oxide fuel cell integrated with gas turbine power cycle. J. Power Sources 212, 73–85 (2012)
Penyarat, C.; Pascal, B.: The hybrid solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and gas turbine (GT) systems steady state modeling. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 37, 9237–9248 (2012)
Zhang, X.; Li, J.; Li, G.; Feng, Z.: Cycle analysis of an integrated solid oxide fuel cell and recuperative gas turbine with an air reheating system. J. Power Sources 164, 752–760 (2007)
Zamfirescu, C.; Dincer, I.: Thermodynamic performance analysis and optimization of a SOFC-\({\rm H}^+\) system. Thermochim. Acta 486, 32–40 (2009)
Saebea, D.; Authayanun, S.; Patcharavorachot, Y.; Arpornwichanop, A.: Effect of anode–cathode exhaust gas recirculation on energy recuperation in a solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid power system. Energy 94, 218–232 (2016)
Zhang, X.; Li, G.; Li, J.; Feng, Z.: Numerical study on electric characteristics of solid oxide fuel cells. Energy Convers. Manag. 48, 977–989 (2007)
Singhal, S.C.; Kendall, K.: High Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: Fundamentals Design and Applications. Elsevier, Oxford (2003)
Berger, C.: Handbook of Fuel Cell Technology. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1968)
Cocco, D.; Tola, V.: Externally reformed solid oxide fuell cell–micro-gas turbine (SOFC–MGT) hybrid systems fueled by methanol and di-methyl-ether (DME). Energy 34, 2124–2130 (2009)
Isfahani, S.N.R.; Sedaghat, A.: A hybrid micro gas turbine and solid state fuel cell power plant with hydrogen production and \(\text{ CO }_{2}\) capture. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 41, 9490–9494 (2016)
Duan, L.; Huang, K.; Zhang, X.; Yang, Y.: Comparison study on different SOFC hybrid systems with zero-\(\text{ CO }_{2}\) emission. In: The 25th International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization and Simulation of Energy Conversion Systems and Processes. ECOS (2012)
Chan, S.H.; Ho, H.K.; Tian, Y.: Modelling of simple hybrid solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine power plant. J. Power Sources 109, 111–120 (2002)
Penoncello, S.G.: Thermal energy systems: design and analysis. International standard book number 576. ISBN 9781482245998
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Faleh, S., Khir, T. & Ben Brahim, A. Energetic Performance Optimization of a SOFC–GT Hybrid Power Plant. Arab J Sci Eng 42, 1505–1515 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-016-2363-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-016-2363-4