PERFORMANCE OF BIOGAS FUELED HYBRID SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL (SOFC) AND GAS TURBINE CYCLE

The macro level model of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system was developed considering fundamental equations of thermodynamics, chemical reactions, and electrochemistry. The SOFC model was implemented in a hybrid SOFC-gas turbine (GT) cycle model using Aspen(R) Plus to simulate two configurations, system with and without anode recirculation. In order to monitor the performance of the system, parameters such as SOFC and system thermal efficiency; SOFC, GT, and cycle net and specific work; as well as air to fuel ratio, and air and fuel mass flow rate were investigated. The results of simulation for different types of fuel, namely, pure methane, natural gas, coal syngas, different types of biomass syngas, and farm and sewage biogas showed that system output and operation parameters were greatly influenced by changes in the fuel composition. Therefore, in feasibility study of a SOFC-GT hybrid cycle fueled by biogas, gasified biomass, and syngas, it is vital that possibility of variation of inlet fuel composition and its impacts on system performance to be considered and investigated.