Performance analysis of a SOFC under direct internal reforming conditions

This paper presents the performance analysis of a planar solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) under direct internal reforming conditions. A detailed solid-oxide fuel cell model is used to study the influences of various operating parameters on cell performance. Significant differences in efficiency and power density are observed for isothermal and adiabatic operational regimes. The influence of air number, specific catalyst area, anode thickness, steam to carbon (s/c) ratio of the inlet fuel, and extend of pre-reforming on cell performance is analyzed. In all cases except for the case of pre-reformed fuel, adiabatic operation results in lower performance compared to isothermal operation. It is further discussed that, though direct internal reforming may lead to cost reduction and increased efficiency by effective utilization of waste heat, the efficiency of the fuel cell itself is higher for pre-reformed fuel compared to non-reformed fuel. Furthermore, criteria for the choice of optimal operating conditions for cell stacks operating under direct internal reforming conditions are discussed.     

Evaluation of system configurations for solid oxide fuel cell-based micro-combined heat and power generators in residential applications

The evaluation of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) combined heat and power (CHP) system configurations for application in residential dwellings is explored through modeling and simulation of cell-stacks including the balance-of-plant equipment. Five different SOFC system designs are evaluated in terms of their energetic performance and suitability for meeting residential thermal-to-electric ratios. Effective system concepts and key performance parameters are identified. The SOFC stack performance is based on anode-supported planar geometry. A cell model is scaled-up to predict voltage–current performance characteristics when served with either hydrogen or methane fuel gas sources. System comparisons for both fuel types are made in terms of first and second law efficiencies. The results indicate that maximum efficiency is achieved when cathode and anode gas recirculation is used along with internal reforming of methane. System electric efficiencies of 40% HHV (45% LHV) and combined heat and power efficiencies of 79% (88% LHV) are described. The amount of heat loss from small-scale SOFC systems is included in the analyses and can have an adverse impact on CHP efficiency. Performance comparisons of hydrogen-fueled versus methane-fueled SOFC systems are also given. The comparisons indicate that hydrogen-based SOFC systems do not offer efficiency performance advantages over methane-fueled SOFC systems. Sensitivity of this result to fuel cell operating parameter selection demonstrates that the magnitude of the efficiency advantage of methane-fueled SOFC systems over hydrogen-fueled ones can be as high as 6%.     

Effects of methane processing strategy on fuel composition,electrical and thermal efficiency of solid oxide fuel cell

Natural gas is a cheap and abundant fuel for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), generally integrating the SOFC system with methane pre-treating system for improving the stability of SOFC. In this paper, the accurate effects of methane processing strategy on fuel composition, electrical efficiency and thermal efficiency of SOFC are investigated based on the thermodynamic equilibrium. Steam reforming of methane is an endothermic process and can produce 3 mol of H₂ and 1 mol of CO from 1 mol of methane, and thus the electrical efficiency of SOFC is high at the same O/C ratio and equivalent fuel utilization, whereas the thermal efficiency is low. On the contrary, partial oxidation of methane is an exothermal process and only produces 2 mol of H₂ and 1 mol of CO from 1 mol of methane, and thus the electrical efficiency of SOFC is low at the same O/C ratio and equivalent fuel utilization, whereas the thermal efficiency is high. When the O/C ratio is 1.5, the electrical efficiency of SOFC is 55.3% for steam reforming of methane, while 32.7% for partial oxidation of methane. High electrical efficiency of SOFC can be achieved and carbon deposition can be depressed by selecting suitable O/C ratio from methane pretreatment according to the accurate calculation and analysis of effects of different methane processing strategies on the electrical efficiency and thermal efficiency of SOFC.     

Combustion chemistry aspects of alternative fuels reforming for high-temperature fuel cell applications

Solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) constitute a particularly attractive technology for sustainable, combined heat and power generation, both at domestic and district levels. The elevated operating temperature of SOFC systems, allows the utilization of a wide spectrum of conventional and alternative fuels, through suitable reforming processes. The high temperatures and fuel rich conditions prevailing in SOFC reformers, enhance syngas yield and reforming efficiency but may give rise to unwanted effects, such as ignition, soot and coke formation and deposition. The above phenomena cannot be described via thermodynamic considerations and can only be effectively tackled through a detailed chemical kinetic approach. The present study provides a comparative assessment of SOFC reformer operation on conventional and alternative hydrocarbon fuels in terms of syngas yield, thermal efficiency and pollutants formation. In particular, the reforming of methane, a typical biogas (comprising of 60% CH₄ and 40% CO₂), methanol and ethanol is numerically assessed by utilizing a recently developed and validated comprehensive detailed kinetic mechanism for C₁–C₆ hydrocarbons, augmented with a PAH model. Chemical aspects of the fuel reforming process are investigated through rate-of-production path and sensitivity analyses. The study supports design guidelines aiming towards identification of optimum operating conditions, for specific applications and fuels. The analysis reveals that the extent of coupling between syngas formation and molecular growth processes is strongly dependent on fuel and operating conditions choice and identifies windows of efficient operation, for each case.     

Performance comparison of three solid oxide fuel cell power systems

An energy analysis of three typical solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power systems fed by methane is carried out with detailed thermodynamic model. Simple SOFC system, hybrid SOFC‐gas turbine (GT) power system, and SOFC‐GT‐steam turbine (ST) power system are compared. The influences of air ratio and operative pressure on the performance of SOFC power systems are investigated. The net system electric efficiency and cogeneration efficiency of these power systems are given by the calculation model. The results show that internal reforming SOFC power system can achieve an electrical efficiency of more than 49% and a system cogeneration efficiency including waste heat recovery of 77%. For SOFC‐GT system, the electrical efficiency and cogeneration efficiency are 61% and 80%, respectively. Although SOFC‐GT‐ST system is more complicated and has high investment costs, the electrical efficiency of it is close to that of SOFC‐GT system. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of efficiencies of low, mean and high temperature fuel cell Systems

Fuel cell systems are always said to show high electrical efficiency. The results achieved up to now, however, differ considerably, especially between the various fuel cell types all using natural gas as fuel. With the presented study the reasons for the different results and general potentials for fuel cell systems are highlighted. For that purpose several system lay-out concepts were elaborated for PEFC, PAFC and SOFC.The performed energy balance calculations for eight different plant concepts (three PEFC, two PAFC and three SOFC) for steady state operation with methane revealed that because of external reforming PEFC and PAFC systems are limited to about 67% and 70%, respectively, for the fuel utilisation. High temperature fuel cells can achieve at least 80% because of the possibility of internal reforming, or even over 90% in case of anode off-gas recycling. In combination with a cell voltage which is about 100 mV lower than that of MCFC and planar SOFC, PEFC can only achieve 38% of electrical net efficiency, PAFC 42% and tubular SOFC 54%. The latter is similar to MCFC, which is operated at higher cell voltage but lower fuel utilisation. The highest efficiency with up to 63% can be achieved with planar SOFC systems, because this concept allows high fuel utilisation together with high cell voltages.     

天然气水蒸气重整与SOFC耦合应用

固体氧化物燃料电池（SOFC）系统具有高能源效率和使用可再生燃料的可能性,将在未来的可持续能源系统中发挥重要作用。过去几年燃料电池的发展很快,但在成本、稳定性和市场份额方面,该技术仍处于早期发展阶段。在以天然气为燃料的SOFC系统中,燃料的重整过程和燃料利用水平都可能影响系统运行的稳定性、热量和能量平衡,从而影响系统的使用寿命、输出功率和效率。因此,对燃料重整过程的设计与控制对有效的SOFC电池运行具有重要意义。对天然气在SOFC系统中的重整器配置方式（包括外重整和内重整）、重整参数和重整燃料利用方式进行了详细的综述分析,并对未来天然气SOFC系统的发展进行了展望。     

Techno-economic analysis of fuel cell auxiliary power units as alternative to idling

This paper presents a techno-economic analysis of fuel-cell-based auxiliary power units (APUs), with emphasis on applications in the trucking industry and the military. The APU system is intended to reduce the need for discretionary idling of diesel engines or gas turbines. The analysis considers the options for on-board fuel processing of diesel and compares the two leading fuel cell contenders for automotive APU applications: proton exchange membrane fuel cell and solid oxide fuel cell. As options for on-board diesel reforming, partial oxidation and auto-thermal reforming are considered. Finally, using estimated and projected efficiency data, fuel consumption patterns, capital investment, and operating costs of fuel-cell APUs, an economic evaluation of diesel-based APUs is presented, with emphasis on break-even periods as a function of fuel cost, investment cost, idling time, and idling efficiency. The analysis shows that within the range of parameters studied, there are many conditions where deployment of an SOFC-based APU is economically viable. Our analysis indicates that at an APU system cost of $ 100 kW⁻¹, the economic break-even period is within 1 year for almost the entire range of conditions. At $ 500 kW⁻¹ investment cost, a 2-year break-even period is possible except for the lowest end of the fuel consumption range considered. However, if the APU investment cost is $ 3000 kW⁻¹, break-even would only be possible at the highest fuel consumption scenarios. For Abram tanks, even at typical land delivered fuel costs, a 2-year break-even period is possible for APU investment costs as high as $ 1100 kW⁻¹.     

Design performance analysis of pressurized solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid systems considering temperature constraints

This study presents critical aspects and their influence on the performance of hybrid power systems combining a pressurized solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a gas turbine (GT). Two types of hybrid system configurations with internal and external reforming have been analyzed. In order to examine the effect of matching between the fuel cell temperature and the turbine inlet temperature on the hybrid system performance, we considered air bypass after the compressor as well as additional fuel supply to the turbine side. This study focuses on the limitation of the temperature difference at the fuel cell stack and its influence on the performances of the two hybrid systems. Performances of the hybrid systems are also compared with those of simple SOFC systems, and the extent of performance enhancement is evaluated. The system with internal reforming gives better efficiency and power capacity for all design conditions than the system with external reforming under the same constraints. Its efficiency gain over the SOFC only system is considerable, while that of the system with external reforming is far less. As the temperature difference at the cell becomes smaller, the system performance generally degrades. The system with internal reforming is less influenced by the constraint of the cell temperature difference.     

Impact of gas-phase reactions in the mixing region upstream of a diesel fuel autothermal reformer

The use of diesel fuel to power a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) presents several challenges. A major issue is deposit formation in either the external reformer, the anode channel, or within the SOFC anode itself. One potential cause of deposit formation under autothermal reforming conditions is the onset of gas-phase reactions upsteam of the catalyst to form ethylene, a deposit precursor. Another potential problem is improper mixing of the fuel, air, and steam streams. Incomplete mixing leads to fuel rich gas pockets in which gas phase pyrolysis chemistry might be accelerated to produce even more ethylene. We performed a combined experiment/modeling analysis to identify combinations of temperature and reaction time that might lead to deposit formation. Two alkanes, n-hexane and n-dodecane, were selected as surrogates for diesel fuel since a detailed mechanism is available for these species. This mechanism was first validated against n-hexane pyrolysis data. It was then used to predict fuel conversion and ethylene production under a variety of reforming conditions, ranging from steam reforming to catalytic partial oxidation. Assuming that the reactants are perfectly mixed at 800 K, the predictions suggest that a mixture must reach the catalyst in less than 0.1 s to avoid formation of potentially troublesome quantities of ethylene. Additional calculations using a simple model to account for improper mixing demonstrate the need for the components to be transported to the catalyst on a much shorter time scale, since both the relatively lean and relatively rich regions react faster and rapidly form ethylene.     

Effects of fuel processing methods on industrial scale biogas-fuelled solid oxide fuel cell system for operating in wastewater treatment plants

The performance of three solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems, fuelled by biogas produced through anaerobic digestion (AD) process, for heat and electricity generation in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is studied. Each system has a different fuel processing method to prevent carbon deposition over the anode catalyst under biogas fuelling. Anode gas recirculation (AGR), steam reforming (SR), and partial oxidation (POX) are the methods employed in systems I-III, respectively. A planar SOFC stack used in these systems is based on the anode-supported cells with Ni-YSZ anode, YSZ electrolyte and YSZ-LSM cathode, operated at 800 °C. A computer code has been developed for the simulation of the planar SOFC in cell, stack and system levels and applied for the performance prediction of the SOFC systems. The key operational parameters affecting the performance of the SOFC systems are identified. The effect of these parameters on the electrical and CHP efficiencies, the generated electricity and heat, the total exergy destruction, and the number of cells in SOFC stack of the systems are studied. The results show that among the SOFC systems investigated in this study, the AGR and SR fuel processor-based systems with electrical efficiency of 45.1% and 43%, respectively, are suitable to be applied in WWTPs. If the entire biogas produced in a WWTP is used in the AGR or SR fuel processor-based SOFC system, the electricity and heat required to operate the WWTP can be completely self-supplied and the extra electricity generated can be sold to the electrical grid.     

The impact of sulfur on the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system operated with hydrocarboneous fuel gas

The impact of thiophene in the fuel gas of a commercial solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system is investigated for concentrations up to 400 ppmV. Based on the measured voltage–current curves, an empiric correlation for the estimation of the expectable power output of the investigated SOFC system when operated with sulfur containing fuel gases is derived. An interrelation between the open circuit voltage (OCV) and the sulfur concentration of the investigated hydrocarboneous fuel gas is presented and discussed based on corresponding model simulations. The reduction of the steam reforming (STR) activity of the anode cermet material and of the catalytic partial oxidation catalyst used for the fuel gas processing in the investigated SOFC system are found important factors regarding the power output reduction induced by sulfur traces in the fuel gas of SOFCs.     

Effects of gas recycle on performance of solid oxide fuel cell power systems

An energy analysis of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power systems with gas recycles fed by natural gas is carried out. Simple SOFC system, SOFC power systems with anode and cathode gas recycle respectively and SOFC power system with both anode and cathode gas recycle are compared. Influences of reforming rate, air ratio and recycle ratio of electrode exhaust gas on performance of SOFC power systems are investigated. Net system electric efficiency and cogeneration efficiency of these power systems are given by a calculation model. Results show that internal reforming SOFC power system can achieve an electrical efficiency of more than 44% and a system cogeneration efficiency including waste heat recovery of 68%. For SOFC power system with anode gas recycle, an electrical efficiency is above 46% and a cogeneration efficiency of 88% is obtained. In the case of cathode gas recycle, an electrical efficiency and a cogeneration efficiency is more than 51% and 78% respectively. Although SOFC system with both anode and cathode gas is more complicated, the electrical efficiency of it is close to 52%.     

Use of hydrogen produced by the air conversion of motor diesel fuel in an electrochemical generator

At present, the production of electric energy consumer remote from agro-based centralized networks is done using diesel-generator technology with limited service life of the engine and the extremely low efficiency in the use of expensive fuel. In this paper, is considered an innovative technology of combined production of electricity and heat using a preliminary conversion of diesel fuel in the synthesis gas and then serving it at high temperature electrochemical generator. Synthetic gas to operate the generator air conversion is made of an electrochemical engine diesel fuels in catalytic reactor-burner. On the basis of heat balances of the torch, battery power and boiler are calculated: battery electric efficiency SOFC, chemical efficiency burner, SOFC anode temperature, EMF Planar element, the proportion of hydrogen, oxidized anode SOFC, unit cost of diesel fuel for the production of electricity and thermal energy. Specific consumption of diesel fuel for the production of electrical energy 114 g/kWh (162 g. w. t./kWh), and thermal 31.7 kg/Gj (45.1 kg/GJ, w. t. 189 kg standard fuel/Gcal).     

Performance evaluation of a fuel processing system based on membrane reactors technology integrated with a PEMFC stack

The development of fuel cells is promised to enable the distributed generation of electricity in the near future. However, the infrastructure for production and distribution of hydrogen, the fuel of choice for fuel cells, is currently lacking. Efficient production of hydrogen from fuels that have existing infrastructure (e.g., natural gas, gasoline or LPG) would remove a major drawback to use fuel cells for distributed power generation.The aim of this paper is to define the better operating conditions of an innovative hydrogen generation system (the fuel processing system, FP) based on LPG steam reforming, equipped with a membrane shift reactor, and integrated with a PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) stack of 5 kWel.With respect to the conventional hydrogen generation systems, the use of membrane reactors (MRs) technology allows to increase the hydrogen generation and to simplify the FP-PEMFC plant, because the CO removal system, needed to reduce the CO content at levels required by the PEMFC, is avoided.Therefore, in order to identify the optimal operating conditions of the FP-PEMFC system, a sensitivity analysis on the fuel processing system has been carried out by varying the main operating parameters of both the reforming reactor and the membrane water gas shift reactor. The sensitivity analysis has been performed by means of a thermochemical model properly developed.Results show that the thermal efficiency of the fuel processing system is maximize (82.4%, referred to the HHV of fuels) at a reforming temperature of 800 °C, a reforming pressure of 8 bar, and an S/C molar ratio equal to 6. In the nominal operating condition of the PEMFC stack, the FP-PEMFC system efficiency is 36.1% (39.0% respect to the LHV).     

Numerical evaluation of a parallel fuel feeding SOFC–PEFC system using seal-less planar SOFC stack

We propose a system that combines a seal-less planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack and polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) stack. In the proposed system, fuel for the SOFC (SOFC fuel) and fuel for the PEFC (PEFC fuel) are fed to each stack in parallel. The steam reformer for the PEFC fuel surrounds the seal-less planar SOFC stack. Combustion exhaust heat from the SOFC stack is used for reforming the PEFC fuel. We show that the electrical efficiency in the SOFC–PEFC system is 5% higher than that in a simple SOFC system using only a seal-less planar SOFC stack when the SOFC operation temperature is higher than 973 K.     

Thermodynamic analysis of fossil fuels reforming for fuel cell application

At present, the infrastructure of hydrogen production, storage and transportation is poor. Fuel reforming for hydrogen production from liquid fossil fuels such as kerosene, petrol and diesel is of great significance for wide application of on-board fuel cell and distributed energy resources. In this work, the produced and heat released of kerosene, petrol and diesel reformed by different reforming methods (autothermal reforming, partial oxidation, steam reforming) were studied by means of thermodynamic analysis. Based on the thermodynamic analysis, the effect of reforming methods on the system's ideal thermal efficiency are analysed. The results show that the hydrogen concentration of syngas obtained from steam reforming is highest regardless of the fuel types. The hydrogen yielded by per unit volume of diesel is largest under same reforming method. Autothermal reforming has the largest ideal thermal efficiency among three reforming methods.     

Thermodynamic modeling of direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cells operating with syngas

In this paper a direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell (DIR-SOFC) is modeled thermodynamically from the energy point of view. Syngas produced from a gasification process is selected as a fuel for the SOFC. The modeling consists of several steps. First, equilibrium gas composition at the fuel channel exit is derived in terms mass flow rate of fuel inlet, fuel utilization ratio, recirculation ratio and extents of steam reforming and water–gas shift reaction. Second, air utilization ratio is determined according to the cooling necessity of the cell. Finally, terminal voltage, power output and electrical efficiency of the cell are calculated. Then, the model is validated with experimental data taken from the literature. The methodology proposed is applied to an intermediate temperature, anode-supported planar SOFC operating with a typical gas produced from a pyrolysis process. For parametric analysis, the effects of recirculation ratio and fuel utilization ratio are investigated. The results show that recirculation ratio does not have a significant effect for low current density conditions. At higher current densities, increasing the recirculation ratio decreases the power output and electrical efficiency of the cell. The results also show that the selection of the fuel utilization ratio is very critical. High fuel utilization ratio conditions result in low power output and air utilization ratio but higher electrical efficiency of the cell.     

Critical issues in heat transfer for fuel cell systems

The current state of the art in fuel cell system development will be reviewed with an emphasis of the critical issues on heat transfer.

The heat transfer issues for both PEM based systems and SOFC based fuel cell systems will be addressed.

For systems that are based on hydrocarbon fuels a reforming step is needed and critical heat transfer issues are also present in this fuel processing part of the system where the primary feedstock is converted to reformate. Also, in both the PEM and SOFC fuel cell itself, heat transfer is a critical issue. It will be shown what are the implications of the fuel cell heat transfer to the total system architecture for the various fuel cell applications (stationary power, transport).

The heat transfer issues in fuel cell system development will be clarified with several examples.     

A methodology for thermo-economic modeling and optimization of solid oxide fuel cell systems

In the context of stationary power generation, fuel cell-based systems are being foreseen as a valuable alternative to thermodynamic cycle-based power plants, especially in small scale applications. As the technology is not yet established, many aspects of fuel cell development are currently investigated worldwide. Part of the research focuses on integrating the fuel cell in a system that is both efficient and economically attractive. To address this problem, we present in this paper a thermo-economic optimization method that systematically generates the most attractive configurations of an integrated system. In the developed methodology, the energy flows are computed using conventional process simulation software. The system is integrated using the pinch based methods that rely on optimization techniques. This defines the minimum of energy required and sets the basis to design the ideal heat exchanger network. A thermo-economic method is then used to compute the integrated system performances, sizes and costs. This allows performing the optimization of the system with regard to two objectives: minimize the specific cost and maximize the efficiency. A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system of 50 kW integrating a planar SOFC is modeled and optimized leading to designs with efficiencies ranging from 34% to 44%. The multi-objective optimization strategy identifies interesting system configurations and their performance for the developed SOFC system model.The methods proves to be an attractive tool to be used both as an advanced analysis tool and as support to decision makers when designing new systems.