Short-Time Overloading Capability and Distributed Generation Applications of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

This paper presents some application studies of the dynamic solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) model developed by the authors and reported in C. Wang and M. H. Nehrir, ldquoA physically-based dynamic model for solid oxide fuel cells,rdquo IEEE Trans. Energy Convers. First, the model is used to investigate the short-time overloading capability of the SOFC. Then, the application of the model in distributed generation (DG) system studies is explored. Controller design methodologies are also presented for grid-connected SOFC DG power conditioning units to control power flow from the SOFC DG to the utility grid. Simulation results show that the SOFC DG system is able to manage real and reactive power flows to the utility grid to which it is connected. They also show that a properly designed SOFC DG can remain stable under temporary electrical faults.