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# Scaling a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Gas Turbine Hybrid System to Meet a Range of Power Demand

[+] Author and Article Information
John VanOsdol

National Energy Technology Laboratory, United States Department of Energy, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, Morgantown, WV 26507jvanos@netl.doe.gov

Eric Liese, David Tucker, Randall Gemmen, Robert James

National Energy Technology Laboratory, United States Department of Energy, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, Morgantown, WV 26507

J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol 7(1), 015001 (Oct 05, 2009) (8 pages) doi:10.1115/1.3115623 History: Received June 17, 2007; Revised November 01, 2007; Published October 05, 2009

## Abstract

In recent years there has been significant interest in using the heat generated from the normal operation of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) to supplant the normal combustion process of a gas turbine system. By doing this a gas turbine fuel cell hybrid power generation system is formed. Because the heat produced by a SOFC is utilized by the turbine to produce work, the hybrid system can have an overall system efficiency that greatly exceeds those of either the stand alone SOFC system, or the stand alone gas turbine system. One of the most critical problems that must be addressed in gas turbine fuel cell hybrid technology is temperature control. A hybrid system that is designed to operate efficiently for a given base load may not be easily extended to accommodate peek load. In this paper a simple hybrid system configuration using a standard SOFC and a single compressor-turbine pair is presented. This simple system is used to establish the effect that key configuration parameters have on system temperatures. The configuration model is then scaled over a range of fuel input and power output to show the limitations of the system. The system is modeled using the ASPEN PLUS ® simulation software with special modules to calculate fuel cell performance.

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## Figures

Figure 1

Baseline low pressure single turbine system

Figure 2

(a) Power split with FUF=0.8, (b) power split with FUF=0.9, (c) system temperatures with FUF=0.8, (d) system temperatures with FUF=0.9, (e) SOFC temperature change with FUF=0.8, and (f) SOFC temperature change with FUF=0.9

Figure 3

(a) SOFC fuel utilization, (b) component power output, (c) system operating temperatures, and (d) SOFC temperature, temperature change, and power split ratio

Figure 4

(a) Fuel input parameters for constant FSR, (b) output power for constant FSR, (c) system temperatures for constant FSR, and (d) SOFC temperature change and power split for constant FSR

Figure 5

(a) Fuel input parameters for unit step change in FSR, (b) output power for unit step change in FSR, (c) system temperatures for unit step change in FSR, and (d) SOFC temperature change and power split ratio for unit step change in FSR

Figure 6

(a) Fuel input parameters for continuous change in FSR, (b) output power for continuous change in FSR, (c) system temperatures for continuous change in FSR, and (d) SOFC temperature change and power split ratio for continuous change in FSR

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