Dear fellow researchers,
is there anyone who has access to, or who can provide me with a good reference of, curves that can provide me with quantitative information about how the electric and thermal power generated by a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell in combined heat and power mode vary with the load of the fuel cell system?
To be more specific, what I would need are curves of the type:
electrical efficiency vs SOFC load
exhaust temperature vs SOFC load
exhaust mass flow vs SOFC load.
I am trying to test the potential use of an SOFC for transportation purposes, and it would be very helpful to have access to this type of information
Hi Francesco
I am afraid of the fact that performance of complette CHP with SOFC at part load are kept confidential. You can find the global performance on the net . The following report from batelle Memorial Institute (2016) can help you : Manufacturing Cost Analysis of 100 and 250 kW Fuel Cell Systems for Primary Power and Combined Heat and Power Applications.
For the electrical power vs intensity of SOFC you have informations in scientific papers. The curve is classical.To obtain the performance of a SOFC stack you need to make the relation with SOFC area.
For your problem I would built a simulator (I have done this myself) : it is easy with EXCEL an VBA or with another language. The only thing required is a curve V (I) for an area because it is the practical performance of a real SOFC.
You have to know that when the fuel is CH4 (forget other petroleum products) there is an internal reforming. You can consider there is chemical equilibrium in the SOFC. So the problem is complete (the number of equations = the number of unknown variables) with a thermal and species balance using experimental value only for the electrical SOFC curve.
For SOFC in transportation, a problem with is different of a fuel cell using pure H2, is the outlet of anodes. It is a real know how. That is why you need a simulator able to calculate what you can't find in papers. The H2 level at the outlet should be as low as possible but it depends on the quality of repartition in the stack. So manufacturers don't give information about it.
Best regards
Paul
Thank you Paul Gateau for your reply! I understand that this information can be confidential for manufacturers, but on the other hand it should be available for customers who need to work on the system integration aspect. This type of information that I am asking is, for example, relatively common for the case of Diesel engines.
Also, I was hoping that someone who had worked on a model like the one that you describe had published the results! Not only the description of the models but, indeed, the parameters needed to perform an accurate system integration.
I might proceed with doing the modelling by myself, it is just a pity that one has to re-invent the wheel while there are probably many people out there who have already this information available :D
Once again, thank you for your kind reply!
The difference between Diesel engine and SOFC is that Diesel engines have been commercialised for a long time. SOFC are still in development.
Best regards
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