Performance analysis of solid oxide fuel cell/piston engine hybrid system for aviation

In this paper, the solid oxide fuel cell/piston engine hybrid power system for aviation is proposed, which combines the solid oxide fuel cell and the piston engine. Turbocharging, autothermal reforming and anode recirculation are used to solve the difficulties of hybrid power system in aviation. In order to obtain the thermodynamic performance and parameter influence law of the solid oxide fuel cell/piston engine hybrid power system, the hybrid power system is modeled. The power generation efficiency of the hybrid power system is 52.29%. The power generation efficiency of the hybrid power system decreases with the increase of flight altitude, increases with the increase of compressor pressure ratio, and increases first and then decreases with the increase of the fuel utilization of fuel cell and anode reflux rate. Exergy analyses was carried out on the hybrid power system to determine the location, degree and source of thermodynamic inefficiency (exergy destructions and exergy losses) in the system. The largest exergy destruction occurred in the autothermal reformer, which accounted for 33.57%, followed by the piston engine, which accounted for 22.17% of the total exergy losses of the system. This paper provides a new and efficient aviation powertrain solution.