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Research Papers

Thermodynamic Analysis and Optimization of IT-SOFC-Based Integrated Coal Gasification Fuel Cell Power Plants

[+] Author and Article Information
Matteo C. Romano

Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italymatteo.romano@polimi.it

Stefano Campanari

Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italystefano.campanari@polimi.it

Vincenzo Spallina

Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italyvincenzo.spallina@mail.polimi.it

Giovanni Lozza

Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italygiovanni.lozza@polimi.it

As mentioned at point 2, the SOFC is modeled here through a lumped volume approach, so there is no attempt to predict the fuel cell internal temperature profiles.

Metal dusting is a serious corrosion phenomenon that leads to the disintegration of metals and alloys when exposed to gaseous atmospheres with carbon activity higher than 1 (i.e., when carbon formation would occur at chemical equilibrium) at temperatures of $400–800°C$(44). Metal dusting can be prevented by adding sulfur to the gas or by using metal dusting resistant materials or coatings. However, ultimate materials and protection methods have not been developed yet, and metal dusting remains today a challenge in process and equipment design (45).

Moreover, this option is less attractive for the application of the IGFC to carbon capture, which could be performed acting on the high $CO2$ concentration stream at the FC anode exhaust, avoiding dilution with air.

J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol 8(4), 041002 (Mar 25, 2011) (11 pages) doi:10.1115/1.4003018 History: Received March 15, 2010; Revised November 04, 2010; Published March 25, 2011; Online March 25, 2011

Abstract

This work discusses the thermodynamic analysis of integrated gasification fuel cell plants, where a simple cycle gas turbine works in a hybrid cycle with a pressurized intermediate temperature–solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), integrated with a coal gasification and syngas cleanup island and a bottoming steam cycle (reflecting the arrangement of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants) to optimize heat recovery and maximize efficiency. This work addresses the optimization of the plant layout, discussing the effect of the SOFC fuel utilization factor and the possibility of a fuel bypass to increase the gas turbine total inlet temperature and reduce the plant expected investment costs. Moreover, a discussion of technological issues related to the feasibility of the connection among the plant high temperature components is carried out, presenting the effects of different limitations of the maximum temperatures reached by the plant piping. With the proposed plant configurations, which do not include—apart from the SOFC—any component far from the nowadays best available technologies, a net electric lower heating value efficiency approaching 52–54% was calculated, showing a remarkable increase with respect to state-of-the-art advanced IGCCs.

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Figures

Figure 1

Schematic of the reference IGCC plant

Figure 2

Schematic of the IT-SOFC-based IGFC cycle, with two pressure level HRSG

Figure 3

Schematic of the IT-SOFC-based IGFC cycle, with three pressure level HRSG

Figure 4

Effect of fuel utilization on net efficiency, voltage, TIT, SOFC pressure, and SOFC power share on the overall gross power output

Figure 5

Effect of fuel utilization on net efficiency for the cases with bypass and TIT=1335°C

Figure 6

Effects of SOFC potential on plant efficiency

Errata

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