Techno-economic and environmental analysis of hybrid SOFC-GT-sCO2 systems for sustainable energy generation

This study employs a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) system to recover and repurpose the excess heat from the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-gas turbine (GT) for electricity generation. Thermodynamic, economic, and environmental assessments of integrated power generation using SOFC-GT with three configurations of sCO2 cycle are reported. The Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software is used to model the system configuration. The compared sCO2 technologies are recuperation, recompression, and partial heating cycles. Recuperated sCO2 cycle achieves optimum value of electrical, exergy efficiencies, CO2 emission, and total cost rate as 61.49 %, 59.15 %, 0.322 kg/kWh, and 4.74 $/h, respectively. Recompression cycle hybrid system achieves electrical, exergy efficiencies, CO2 emission, and total cost rate of 61.09 %, 58.77 %, 0.324 kg/kWh, and 5.646 $/h, respectively. Preheating cycle achieves the electrical, exergy efficiencies, CO2 emission, and total cost rate of 61.46 %, 59.12 %, 0.322 kg/kWh, and 5.941 $/h, respectively. LCOE of the recuperated, recompression, and partial heating cycles are 39.4 $/MWh, 42.31$/MWh, and 42.94 $/MWh, respectively.