scholarly journals Control Design for a Bottoming Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Gas Turbine Hybrid System

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Mueller ◽  
Faryar Jabbari ◽  
Jacob Brouwer ◽  
Rory Roberts ◽  
Tobias Junker ◽  
...  

A bottoming 275kW planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) gas turbine (GT) hybrid system control approach has been conceptualized and designed. Based on previously published modeling techniques, a dynamic model is developed that captures the physics sufficient for dynamic simulation of all processes that affect the system with time scales of >10ms. The dynamic model was used to make system design improvements to enable the system to operate dynamically over a wide range of power output (15–100% power). The wide range of operation was possible by burning supplementary fuel in the combustor and operating the turbine at variable speed for improved thermal management. The dynamic model was employed to design a control strategy for the system. Analyses of the relative gain array (RGA) of the system at several operating points gave insight into input/output (I/O) pairing for decentralized control. Particularly, the analyses indicate that, for SOFC/GT hybrid plants that use voltage as a controlled variable, it is beneficial to control system power by manipulating fuel cell current and to control fuel cell voltage by manipulating the anode fuel flowrate. To control the stack temperature during transient load changes, a cascade control structure is employed in which a fast inner loop that maintains the GT shaft speed receives its set point from a slower outer loop that maintains the stack temperature. Fuel can be added to the combustor to maintain the turbine inlet temperature for the lower operating power conditions. To maintain fuel utilization and to prevent fuel starvation in the fuel cell, fuel is supplied to the fuel cell proportionally to the stack current. In addition, voltage is used as an indicator of varying fuel concentrations, allowing the fuel flow to be adjusted accordingly. Using voltage as a sensor is shown to be a potential solution to making SOFC systems robust to varying fuel compositions. The simulation tool proved effective for fuel cell/GT hybrid system control system development. The resulting SOFC/GT system control approach is shown to have transient load-following capability over a wide range of power, ambient temperature, and fuel concentration variations.

Author(s):  
Fabian Mueller ◽  
Faryar Jabbari ◽  
Jacob Brouwer ◽  
Rory Roberts ◽  
Tobias Junker ◽  
...  

A bottoming 275 kilowatt planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) gas turbine (GT) hybrid system control approach has been conceptualized and designed. Based on previously published modeling techniques, a dynamic model is developed that captures the physics sufficient for dynamic simulation of all processes that affect the system with time scales greater than ten milliseconds. The dynamic model was used to make system design improvements to enable the system to operate dynamically over a wide range of power output (15 to 100% power). The wide range of operation was possible by burning supplementary fuel in the combustor and operating the turbine at variable speed for improved thermal management. The dynamic model was employed to design a control strategy for the system. Analyses of the relative gain array (RGA) of the system at several operating points gave insight into input/output (I/O) pairing for decentralized control. Particularly, the analyses indicate that for SOFC/GT hybrid plants that use voltage as a controlled variable it is beneficial to control system power by manipulating fuel cell current and to control fuel cell voltage by manipulating the anode fuel flowrate. To control the stack temperature during transient load changes, a cascade control structure is employed in which a fast inner loop that maintains the GT shaft speed receives its setpoint from a slower outer loop that maintains the stack temperature. Fuel can be added to the combustor to maintain the turbine inlet temperature for the lower operating power conditions. To maintain fuel utilization and to prevent fuel starvation in the fuel cell, fuel is supplied to the fuel cell proportionally to the stack current. In addition, voltage is used as an indicator of varying fuel concentrations allowing the fuel flow to be adjusted accordingly. Using voltage as a sensor is shown to be a potential solution to making SOFC systems robust to varying fuel compositions. The simulation tool proved effective for fuel cell/GT hybrid system control system development. The resulting SOFC/GT system control approach is shown to have transient load-following capability over a wide range of power, ambient temperature, and fuel concentration variations.


2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Roberts ◽  
J. Brouwer

Hybrid fuel-cell–gas-turbine (FC/GT) systems are technologically advanced systems that are promising for electric power generation with ultralow emissions and high efficiency for a large range of power plant sizes. A good understanding of the steady-state and dynamic performance of a FC/GT system is needed in order to develop and advance this hybrid technology. In this work, a detailed dynamic model of a solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine (SOFC/GT) system has been developed. The system that is simulated represents the 220kW SOFC/GT hybrid system developed by Siemens Westinghouse. Results of the dynamic model and experimental data gathered during the operation and testing of the 220kW SOFC/GT at the National Fuel Cell Research Center are compared and presented.


Author(s):  
Y. Haseli

Optimum pressure ratios of a regenerative gas turbine (RGT) power plant with and without a solid oxide fuel cell are investigated. It is shown that assuming a constant specific heat ratio throughout the RGT plant, explicit expressions can be derived for the optimum pressure ratios leading to maximum thermal efficiency and maximum net work output. It would be analytically complicated to apply the same method for the hybrid system due to the dependence of electrochemical parameters such as cell voltage on thermodynamic parameters like pressure and temperature. So, the thermodynamic optimization of this system is numerically studied using models of RGT plant and solid oxide fuel cell. Irreversibilities in terms of component efficiencies and total pressure drop within each configuration are taken into account. The main results for the RGT plant include maximization of the work output at the expenses of 2–4% lower thermal efficiency and higher capital costs of turbo-compressor compared to a design based on maximum thermal efficiency. On the other hand, the hybrid system is studied for a turbine inlet temperature (TIT) of 1 250–1 450 K and 10–20% total pressure drop in the system. The maximum thermal efficiency is found to be at a pressure ratio of 3–4, which is consistent with past studies. A higher TIT leads to a higher pressure ratio; however, no significant effect of pressure drop on the optimum pressure ratio is observed. The maximum work output of the hybrid system may take place at a pressure ratio at which the compressor outlet temperature is equal to the turbine downstream temperature. The work output increases with increasing the pressure ratio up to a point after which it starts to vary slightly. The pressure ratio at this point is suggested to be the optimal because the work output is very close to its maximum and the thermal efficiency is as high as a littler less than 60%.


2012 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Wei D. Chiang ◽  
Chih-Neng Hsu ◽  
Wu-Bin Huang ◽  
Chien-Hsiung Lee ◽  
Wei-Ping Huang ◽  
...  

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