Steady State Analysis of a SOFC/GT Hybrid Power Plant Test Rig

In the present paper a steady state analysis of a SOFC/GT hybrid cycle test rig is shown. In the test rig the SOFC stack is replaced by a hardware simulator. Therefore the cycle can be investigated without the risk of damaging the cell. One focus of the numerical studies presented here is the influence of the SOFC stack size on the commercial Turbec T100 gas turbine and the system parameters, i.e., power output and electrical efficiency. The results are used to define the stack size for the test rig simulator. Based on the test rig configuration another focus of this paper is to work out the effect of several system parameters, like ambient conditions or pressure losses, on the hybrid system. Here the discussion will concentrate on the gas turbine operating behavior. Furthermore the power balance between fuel cell and gas turbine. Therefore the SOFC boundary conditions are changed to analyze there influence on the system performance. For the presented studies a validated steady state in-house simulation tool is used.Copyright © 2008 by German Aerospace Center