Performance analysis of fuel cell thermoelectric cogeneration system with methanol steam reformer

A MATLAB/Simulink model is constructed of a fuel cell thermoelectric cogeneration system fed by a methanol steam reformer. The major components within the simulation model include the fuel cell stack, the hydrogen and oxygen supply systems, the heat recovery system, and the methanol steam reformer. It is shown that the simulation results for the dynamic response of the fuel cell given a step change in the load are in good qualitative agreement with the experimental results. Moreover, the simulation results show that the proposed thermoelectric cogeneration system has a thermal efficiency of 35%, an electrical efficiency of 45.6%, and a combined heat and power efficiency of 80.6%. The numerical results for the system efficiency deviate by no more than 4.4% from the experimental results. Finally, it is shown both numerically and experimentally that the methanol conversion rate is greater than 99%.