Modeling and cycling control of carbonate fuel cell power plants

A mathematical process model for an internal reforming molten carbonate fuel cell power plant is discussed in this paper. The dominant thermal and chemical dynamic processes are modeled for the cell stack array and balance-of-plant, including cathode gas preparation, heat recovery, and fuel processing. Physical data is obtained from a 2 MW system design that was a precursor to a demonstration plant operated at the City of Santa Clara, CA, USA. Steady state validation for several load points is provided for the cell stack array and a load cycling control system is described and tested under ramping operation between load points. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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