Thermodynamic assessment of advanced SOFC-blade cooled gas turbine hybrid cycle

This paper focuses on novel integration of high temperature solid oxide fuel cell coupled with recuperative gas turbine (with air-film cooling of blades) based hybrid power plant (SOFC-blade cooled GT). For realistic analysis of gas turbine cycle air-film blade cooling technique has been adopted. First law thermodynamic analysis investigating the combine effect of film cooling of blades, SOFC, applied to a recuperated gas turbine cycle has been reported. Thermodynamic modeling for the proposed cycle has been presented. Results highlight the influence of film cooling of blades and operating parameters of SOFC on various performance of SOFC-blade cooled GT based hybrid power plant. Moreover, parametric investigation has also been done to examine the effect of compressor pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, on hybrid plant efficiency and plant specific work. It has been found that on increasing turbine inlet temperature (TIT) beyond a certain limit, the efficiency of gas turbine starts declining after reaching an optimum value which is compensated by continuous increase in SOFC efficiency with increase in operating temperature. The net result is higher performance of hybrid cycle with increase in maximum cycle temperature. Furthermore, it has been observed that at TIT 1600 K and compression ratio 20, maximum efficiency of 73.46% can been achieved.     

Thermo-economic modeling of a solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine power plant with semi-direct coupling and anode recycling

Power generation using gas turbine (GT) power plants operating on the Brayton cycle suffers from low efficiencies, resulting in poor fuel to power conversion. A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is proposed for integration into a 10 MW gas turbine power plant, operating at 30% efficiency in order to improve system efficiencies and economics. The SOFC system is semi-directly coupled to the gas turbine power plant, with careful attention paid to minimize the disruption to the GT operation. A thermo-economic model is developed for the hybrid power plant, and predicts an optimized power output of 21.6 MW at 49.2% efficiency. The model also predicts a breakeven per-unit energy cost of USD 4.70 ¢/kWh for the hybrid system based on futuristic mass generation SOFC costs. Results show that SOFCs can be semi-directly integrated into existing GT power systems to improve their thermodynamic and economic performance.     

Estimation of exergy-based sustainability index and performance evaluation of a novel intercooled hybrid gas turbine system

This paper contributes a novel sustainability index and modified exergy indicators for conventional gas turbines and solid oxide fuel cell integrated gas turbine (SOFC-GT) hybrid power cycles. In this work, an intercooled gas turbine (Ic-GT) cycle is considered as a base cycle, which gives an additive advantage in lowering the power required for the compressor. Moreover, on SOFC integration with Ic-GT, the qualitative and quantitative performance are examined. Numerical modeling is done using MATLAB and an exclusive comparison has been made based on energy-exergy and sustainability analysis for the system and its components. On comparing the first law efficiency at turbine inlet temperature, TIT 1250K and rp = 18 for Ic-GT, intercooled recuperated gas turbine (Ic-RGT), and Ic–SOFC–RGT, it is 25.82%, 36.04%, and 64.78%, respectively. Similarly, second law efficiency is 11.43%, 22.33%, and 61.11% and the overall sustainability index is 1.12, 1.28, and 2.57 for Ic-GT, Ic-RGT, and Ic–SOFC–RGT, respectively. Nine other modified exergy-based parameters are used to identify the role of fuel and product exergy and then compare the most affected component in three configurations.     

Energetic and exergetic parametric study of a SOFC-GT hybrid power plant

A parametric study is conducted on a hybrid SOFC-GT cycle as part of a national program aiming to improve the efficiency of the actual gas turbine power plants and to better undertake the future investigations. The proposed power plant is mainly constituted by a Gas Turbine cycle, a SOFC system, and an ammonia water absorption refrigerating system. An external pre-reformer 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 for the combustion chamber. An extraction is performed on the gas Turbine in order to feed the SOFC cycle by thermal heat flux at medium pressure.The equations governing the electrochemical processes, the energy and the exergy balances of the power plant components are established. Numerical simulation using EES software is performed. The influences of key operating parameters, such as humidity, pre-reforming fraction, extraction fraction from the Gas Turbine and fuel utilization on the performances of the SOFC-GT hybrid system are analyzed. Obtained results show that the integration of the SOFC enhances significantly the hybrid overall cycle efficiency. The increase of the ambient temperature and humidity reduces the system efficiencies. The utilization factor has a negative effect on the SOFC temperature and voltage. That leads to a decrease in the power plant performances. While the pre-reforming fraction, has a positive effect on the indicated parameters.     

Thermo-economic modeling of an indirectly coupled solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid power plant

Power generation using gas turbine (GT) power plants operating on the Brayton cycle suffers from low efficiencies, resulting in poor fuel to power conversion. A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is proposed for integration into a 10 MW gas turbine power plant, operating at 30% efficiency, in order to improve system efficiencies and economics. The SOFC system is indirectly coupled to the gas turbine power plant, paying careful attention to minimize the disruption to the GT operation. A thermo-economic model is developed for the hybrid power plant, and predicts an optimized power output of 20.6 MW at 49.9% efficiency. The model also predicts a break-even per-unit energy cost of USD 4.65 ¢ kWh⁻¹ for the hybrid system based on futuristic mass generation SOFC costs. This shows that SOFCs may be indirectly integrated into existing GT power systems to improve their thermodynamic and economic performance.     

Thermodynamic modeling of a gas turbine cycle combined with a solid oxide fuel cell

This study examines the performance of a high-temperature solid oxide fuel cell combined with a conventional recuperative gas turbine (GT–SOFC) plant, as well as the irreversibility within the system. Individual models are developed for each component, through applications of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The overall system performance is then analyzed by employing individual models and further applying thermodynamic laws for the entire cycle, to evaluate the thermal efficiency and entropy production of the plant. The results of an assessment of the cycle for certain operating conditions are compared against those available in the literature. The comparisons provide useful verification of the thermodynamic simulations in the present work. The comparisons provide useful verification of the thermal simulations in the present work. Further outcomes indicate that increasing the turbine inlet temperature results in decreasing the thermal efficiency of the cycle, whereas it improves the net specific power output. Moreover, an increase in either the turbine inlet temperature or compression ratio leads to a higher rate of entropy generation within the plant. It was found that the combustor and SOFC contribute predominantly to the total irreversibility of the system. About 60% of the irreversibility takes place in the following components at typical operating conditions: 31.4% in the combustor and 27.9% in the SOFC. A comparison between the GT–SOFC plant and a traditional GT cycle, based on identical operating conditions, is also made. Although the irreversibility of a modern plant is higher than that of a conventional cycle, the superior performance of a GT–SOFC, in terms of thermal efficiency and environmental impact (lower CO₂ emissions), over a traditional GT cycle is evident. It has about 27.8% higher efficiency than a traditional GT plant. In this case, the thermal efficiency of the integrated cycle becomes as high as 60.6% at the optimum compression ratio.     

Optimal integration strategies for a syngas fuelled SOFC and gas turbine hybrid

This article aims to develop a thermodynamic modelling and optimization framework for a thorough understanding of the optimal integration of fuel cell, gas turbine and other components in an ambient pressure SOFC-GT hybrid power plant. This method is based on the coupling of a syngas-fed SOFC model and an associated irreversible GT model, with an optimization algorithm developed using MATLAB to efficiently explore the range of possible operating conditions. Energy and entropy balance analysis has been carried out for the entire system to observe the irreversibility distribution within the plant and the contribution of different components. Based on the methodology developed, a comprehensive parametric analysis has been performed to explore the optimum system behavior, and predict the sensitivity of system performance to the variations in major design and operating parameters. The current density, operating temperature, fuel utilization and temperature gradient of the fuel cell, as well as the isentropic efficiencies and temperature ratio of the gas turbine cycle, together with three parameters related to the heat transfer between subsystems are all set to be controllable variables. Other factors affecting the hybrid efficiency have been further simulated and analysed. The model developed is able to predict the performance characteristics of a wide range of hybrid systems potentially sizing from 2000 to 2500 W m⁻² with efficiencies varying between 50% and 60%. The analysis enables us to identify the system design tradeoffs, and therefore to determine better integration strategies for advanced SOFC-GT systems.     

Thermo-economic optimization of an indirectly coupled solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid power plant

Power generation using gas turbine (GT) power plants operating on the Brayton cycle suffers from low efficiencies, resulting in poor fuel to power conversion. A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is proposed for integration into a 10-MW GT power plant, operating at 30% efficiency, in order to improve system efficiencies and economics. The SOFC system is indirectly coupled to the GT, in order to minimize the disruption to the GT operation. A thermo-economic model is developed to simulate the hybrid power plant and to optimize its performance using the method of Lagrange Multipliers. It predicts an optimized power output of 18.9 MW at 48.5% efficiency, and a breakeven per-unit energy cost of USD 4.54 ¢ kW h⁻¹ for the hybrid system based on futuristic mass generation SOFC costs.     

Parameter optimization study on SOFC‐MGT hybrid power system

This paper mainly studied the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)–micro gas turbine (MGT) hybrid power system. The key parameters that greatly influence the overall system performance have been studied and optimized. The thermodynamic potential of improving the hybrid system performance by integrating SOFC with the advanced thermal cycle system is analyzed. The optimization rules of main parameters of SOFC‐MGT hybrid power system with the turbine inlet temperature (TIT) of MGT as a constraint condition are revealed. The research results show that TIT is a key parameter that limits the electrical efficiency of hybrid power system. With the increase of the cell number, both the power generation efficiency of the hybrid cycle power system and TIT increase. Regarding the hybrid system with the fixed cell number, in order to get a higher electrical efficiency, the operating temperature of SOFC should be enhanced as far as possible. However, the higher operating temperature will result in the higher TIT. Increasing of fuel utilization factor is an effective measure to improve the performance of hybrid system. At the same time, TIT increases slightly. Both the electrical efficiency of hybrid power system and TIT reduce with the increase of the ratio of steam to carbon. The achievements obtained from this paper will provide valuable information for further study on SOFC‐MGT hybrid power system with high efficiency. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance characteristics of part-load operations of a solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid system using air-bypass valves

In spite of the high-performance characteristics of a solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine (SOFC/GT) hybrid system, it is difficult to maintain high-level performance under real application conditions, which generally require part-load operations. The efficiency loss of the SOFC/GT hybrid system under such conditions is closely related to that of the gas turbine. The power generated by the gas turbine in a hybrid system is much less than that generated by the SOFC, but its contribution to the efficiency of the system is important, especially under part-load conditions. Over the entire operating load profile of a hybrid system, the efficiency of the hybrid system can be maximized by increasing the contribution of power coming from the high efficiency component, namely the fuel cell. In this study, part-load control strategies using air-bypass valves are proposed, and their impact on the performance of an SOFC/GT hybrid system is discussed. It is found that air-bypass modes with control of the fuel supply help to overcome the limits of the part-load operation characteristics in air/fuel control modes, such as variable rotational speed control and variable inlet guide vane control.     

Effects of operating and design parameters on the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell–gas turbine system

We present a steady‐state thermodynamic model of a hybrid solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)–gas turbine (GT) cycle developed using a commercial process simulation software, AspenPlus?. The hybrid cycle model incorporates a zero‐dimensional macro‐level SOFC model. A parametric study was carried out using the developed model to study the effects of system pressure, SOFC operating temperature, turbine inlet temperature, steam‐to‐carbon ratio, SOFC fuel utilization factor, and GT isentropic efficiency on the specific work output and efficiency of a generic hybrid cycle with and without anode recirculation. The results show that system pressure and SOFC operating temperature increase the cycle efficiency regardless of the presence of anode recirculation. On the other hand, the specific work decreases with operating temperature. Overall, the model can successfully capture the complex performance trends observed in hybrid cycles. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cycle analysis of an integrated solid oxide fuel cell and recuperative gas turbine with an air reheating system

Cycle simulation and analysis for two kinds of SOFC/GT hybrid systems were conducted with the help of the simulation tool: Aspen Custom Modeler. Two cycle schemes of recuperative heat exchanger (RHE) and exhaust gas recirculated (EGR) were described according to the air reheating method. The system performance with operating pressure, turbine inlet temperature and fuel cell load were studied based on the simulation results. Then the effects of oxygen utilization, fuel utilization, operating temperature and efficiencies of the gas turbine components on the system performance of the RHE cycle and the EGR cycle were discussed in detail. Simulation results indicated that the system optimum efficiency for the EGR air reheating cycle scheme was higher than that of the RHE cycle system. A higher pressure ratio would be available for the EGR cycle system in comparison with the RHE cycle. It was found that increasing fuel utilization or oxygen utilization would decrease fuel cell efficiency but improve the system efficiency for both of the RHE and EGR cycles. The efficiency of the RHE cycle hybrid system decreased as the fuel cell air inlet temperature increased. However, the system efficiency of EGR cycle increased with fuel cell air inlet temperature. The effect of turbine efficiency on the system efficiency was more obvious than the effect of the compressor and recuperator efficiencies among the gas turbine components. It was also indicated that improving the gas turbine component efficiencies for the RHE cycle increased system efficiency higher than that for the EGR cycle.     

An integrated power generation system combining solid oxide fuel cell and oxy-fuel combustion for high performance and CO2 capture

An integrated power generation system combining solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and oxy-fuel combustion technology is proposed. The system is revised from a pressurized SOFC-gas turbine hybrid system to capture CO₂ almost completely while maintaining high efficiency. The system consists of SOFC, gas turbine, oxy-combustion bottoming cycle, and CO₂ capture and compression process. An ion transport membrane (ITM) is used to separate oxygen from the cathode exit air. The fuel cell operates at an elevated pressure to facilitate the use of the ITM, which requires high pressure and temperature. The remaining fuel at the SOFC anode exit is completely burned with oxygen at the oxy-combustor. Almost all of the CO₂ generated during the reforming process of the SOFC and at the oxy-fuel combustor is extracted from the condenser of the oxy-combustion cycle. The oxygen-depleted high pressure air from the SOFC cathode expands at the gas turbine. Therefore, the expander of the oxy-combustion cycle and the gas turbine provides additional power output. The two major design variables (steam expander inlet temperature and condenser pressure) of the oxy-fuel combustion system are determined through parametric analysis. There exists an optimal condenser pressure (below atmospheric pressure) in terms of global energy efficiency considering both the system power output and CO₂ compression power consumption. It was shown that the integrated system can be designed to have almost equivalent system efficiency as the simple SOFC-gas turbine hybrid system. With the voltage of 0.752 V at the SOFC operating at 900 °C and 8 bar, system efficiency over 69.2% is predicted. Efficiency penalty due to the CO₂ capture and compression up to 150 bar is around 6.1%.     

Performance analysis of hybrid solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine cycle (part I): Effects of fuel composition on output power

In this paper, the model of hybrid solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and gas turbine (GT) cycle is applied to investigate the effects of the inlet fuel type and composition on the performance of the hybrid SOFC–GT cycle. The sensitivity analyses of the impacts of the concentration of the different components, namely, methane, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen, in the inlet fuel on the performance of the hybrid SOFC–GT cycle are performed. The simulation results are presented with respect to a reference case, when the system is fueled by pure methane. Then, the performance of the hybrid SOFC–GT system when methane is partially replaced by each component within a corresponding range of concentration with an increment of 5% at each step is investigated. The results point out that the output powers of the SOFC, GT, and cycle as a whole decrease sharply when methane is replaced with other species in majority of the cases.     

Part load operation of SOFC/GT hybrid systems: Stationary analysis

In a global energetic context characterized by the increasing demand of oil and gas, the depletion of fossil resources and the global warming, more efficient energy systems and, consequently, innovative energy conversion processes are urgently required. A possible solution can be found in the fuel cells technology coupled with classical thermodynamic cycle technologies in order to make hybrid systems able to achieve high energy/power efficiency with low environmental impact. Moreover, due to the synergistic effect of using a high temperature fuel cell such as solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a recuperative gas turbine (GT), the integrated system efficiency can be significantly improved. In this paper a steady zero dimensional model of a SOFC/GT hybrid system is presented. The core of the work consists of a performance analysis focused on the influence of the GT part load functioning on the overall system efficiency maintaining the SOFC power set to the nominal one. Also the proper design and management of the heat recovery section is object of the present study, with target a global electric efficiency almost constant in part load functioning respect to nominal operation. The results of this study have been used as basis to the development of a dynamic model, presented in the following part of the study focused on the plant dynamic analysis.     

Optimization and efficiency analysis of methanol SOFC-PEMFC hybrid system

In order to improve the power generation efficiency of fuel cell systems employing liquid fuels, a hybrid system consisting of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is proposed. Utilize the high temperature heat generated by SOFC to reform as much methanol as possible to improve the overall energy efficiency of the system. When SOFC has a stable output of 100 kW, the amount of hydrogen after reforming is changed by changing the methanol flow rate. Three hybrid systems are proposed to compare and select the best system process suitable for different situations. The results show that the combined combustion system has the highest power generation, which can reach 350 kW and the total electrical efficiency is 57%. When the power of the tail gas preheating system is 160 kW, the electrical efficiency can reach 75%. The PEM water preheating system has the most balanced performance, with the electric power of 300 kW and the efficiency of 66%.     

Cycle analysis of low and high H2 utilization SOFC/gas turbine combined cycle for CO2 recovery

A major factor in global warming is CO₂ emission from thermal power plants, which burn fossil fuels. One technology proposed to prevent global warming is CO₂ recovery from combustion flue gas and the sequestration of CO₂ underground or near the ocean bed. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can produce highly concentrated CO₂, because the reformed fuel gas reacts with oxygen electrochemically without being mixed with air in the SOFC. We therefore propose to operate multi-staged SOFCs with high utilization of reformed fuel to obtain highly concentrated CO₂. In this study, we estimated the performance of multi-staged SOFCs considering H₂ diffusion and the combined cycle efficiency of a multi-staged SOFC/gas turbine/CO₂ recovery power plant. The power generation efficiency of our CO₂ recovery combined cycle is 68.5%, whereas the efficiency of a conventional SOFC/GT cycle with the CO₂ recovery amine process is 57.8%.     

Study on a novel solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid cycle system with CO2 capture

A novel solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)/gas turbine (GT) hybrid cycle system with CO₂ capture is proposed based on a typical topping cycle SOFC/GT hybrid system. The H₂ gas is separated from the outlet mixture gas of SOFC1 anode by employing the advanced ceramic proton membrane technology, and then, it is injected into SOFC2 to continue a new electrochemical reaction. The outlet gas of SOFC1 cathode and the exhaust gas from SOFC2 burn in the afterburner 1. The combustion gas production of the afterburner1 expands in the turbine 1. The outlet gas of SOFC1 anode employs the oxy‐fuel combustion mode in the afterburner 2 after H₂ gas is separated. Then, the combustion gas production expands in the turbine 2. To ensure that the flue gas temperature does not exceed the maximum allowed turbine inlet temperature, steam is injected into the afterburner 2. The outlet gas of the afterburner 2 contains all the CO₂ gas of the system. When the steam is removed by condensation, the CO₂ gas can be captured. The steam generated by the waste heat boiler is used to drive a refrigerator and make CO₂ gas liquefied at a lower temperature. The performance of the novel quasi‐zero CO₂ emission SOFC/GT hybrid cycle system is analyzed with a case study. The effects of key parameters, such as CO₂ liquefaction temperature, hydrogen separation rate, and the unit oxygen production energy consumption on the new system performance, are investigated. Compared with the other quasi‐zero CO₂ emission power systems, the new system has the highest efficiency of around 64.13%. The research achievements will provide the valuable reference for further study of quasi‐zero CO₂ emission power system with high efficiency. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance characteristics of a solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid system with various part-load control modes

The purpose of this study is to compare the part-load performance of a solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine (SOFC/GT) hybrid system in three different control modes: fuel-only control, rotational speed control, and variable inlet guide vane (VIGV) control. While the first mode maintains a constant air supply and reduces the supplied fuel to achieve part-load operation, the other modes are distinguished by the simultaneous controls of the air and fuel supplied to the system. After the performance analysis of a SOFC/GT hybrid system under part-load operating conditions, it was concluded that the rotational speed control mode provided the best performance characteristics for part-load operations. In spite of worse performance than the rotational speed control mode, the VIGV control mode can be a good candidate for part-load operation in a large-scale hybrid system in which the rotational speed control is not applicable. It was also found that, in spite of a relatively small contribution to the total system power generation, the gas turbine plays an important role in part-load operation of a SOFC/GT hybrid system.     

Performance analysis of hybrid solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine cycle (part II): Effects of fuel composition on specific work and efficiency

The model of the hybrid solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and gas turbine (GT) cycle is used to evaluate the impacts of the inlet fuel composition on the specific work and efficiency of the cycle. In order to perform the analysis, the system fueled with methane is considered as the reference case. For alternative cases, methane is partially replaced with hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen with an increment of 5% at each step. The results indicate that the trend of the variations and the magnitude of the changes depend on the replacing gases. The specific work and efficiency of the SOFC, GT, and cycle as a whole for the cycle with and without anode recirculation can increased, decreased, or remain unaffected when methane is replaced with these species. All these trends are justified by investigating the system's operational parameters. This study confirms the importance of the fuel composition impacts on the SOFC–GT cycle performance.