Impact of recovered thermal energy management on the economics of operation of a grid-parallel PEM fuel cell power plant

Management of recovered thermal energy with the object of achieving optimal cost of operation of a grid-parallel PEM fuel cell power plant (FCPP) is the focus of this paper. An economic model is presented which includes the operational cost, thermal recovery, power trade with the local grid, and selling of surplus thermal energy. Multiple operational strategies are developed using this model. The strategies are then investigated by estimating the quarter-hourly generated power, and the amount of recovered thermal power while satisfying the thermal and electrical load requirements. An evolutionary programming-based technique is used to solve for the optimal operational strategy. The model is tested using different seasonal load conditions. Results are encouraging and indicate viability of the proposed model.