Design and Assessment of A New Dual Solid Oxide Fuel Cell – Gas Turbine Hybrid System

Given the increasing energy demand, utilizing of high efficiency systems with low environmental impact seems necessary. Using new energy conversion methods such as electrochemical reactions is one of the solutions for this purpose. Fuel cells are devices for conducting continuous electrochemical reactions. The main goal of this research is to present and evaluate a new dual solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine (SOFC-GT) plant. The proposed plant is designed for power generation. Energy, exergy, and environmental models are developed to simulate and investigate this system using EES software. The effect of key operating parameters on the system operation is studied. A similar single solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine plant is also designed and evaluated for comparison with dual cell plant. The results of exergy analyses indicate that the largest exergy destruction for both single and dual cell cycles occurs in afterburner. In addition, the net rate of exergy destruction and energy efficiency attained by dual cell cycle are 384.1 kW and 63.93%, respectively. A comparison of dual cell with single cell cycle shows that the net power generation rate in the dual cell cycle is higher than the single cell cycle. In contrast, the net rate of exergy destruction in the dual cell system is more than single cell system. Dual SOFC-GT system is more environmentally friendly than a single SOFC-GT system because it has a lower carbon dioxide emission rate.