A TOPSIS method to evaluate the technologies

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asis Sarkar
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Phosphoric Acid ◽  
Internal Combustion Engine ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Solid Oxide ◽  
Oxide Fuel ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate nine types of electrical energy generation options with regard to seven criteria. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to perform the evaluation. The TOPSIS method was used to evaluate the best generation technology. Design/methodology/approach – The options that were evaluated are the hydrogen combustion turbine, the hydrogen internal combustion engine, the hydrogen fuelled phosphoric acid fuel cell, the hydrogen fuelled solid oxide fuel cell, the natural gas fuelled phosphoric acid fuel cell, the natural gas fuelled solid oxide fuel cell, the natural gas turbine, the natural gas combined cycle and the natural gas internal combustion engine. The criteria used for the evaluation are CO2 emissions, NOX emissions, efficiency, capital cost, operation and maintenance costs, service life and produced electricity cost. Findings – The results drawn from the analysis in technology wise are as follows: natural gas fuelled solid oxide fuel cells>natural gas combined cycle>natural gas fuelled phosphoric acid fuel cells>natural gas internal combustion engine>hydrogen fuelled solid oxide fuel cells>hydrogen internal combustion engines>hydrogen combustion turbines>hydrogen fuelled phosphoric acid fuel cells> and natural gas turbine. It shows that the natural gas fuelled solid oxide fuel cells are the best technology available among all the available technology considering the seven criteria such as service life, electricity cost, O&M costs, capital cost, NOX emissions, CO2 emissions and efficiency of the plant. Research limitations/implications – The most dominant electricity generation technology proved to be the natural gas fuelled solid oxide fuel cells which ranked in the first place among nine alternatives. The research is helpful to evaluate the different alternatives. Practical implications – The research is helpful to evaluate the different alternatives and can be extended in all the spares of technologies. Originality/value – The research was the original one. Nine energy generation options were evaluated with regard to seven criteria. The energy generation options were the hydrogen combustion turbine, the hydrogen internal combustion engine, the hydrogen fuelled phosphoric acid fuel cell, the hydrogen fuelled solid oxide fuel cell, the natural gas fuelled phosphoric acid fuel cell, the natural gas fuelled solid oxide fuel cell, the natural gas turbine, the natural gas combined cycle and the natural gas internal combustion engine. The criteria used for the evaluation were efficiency, CO2 emissions, NOX emissions, capital cost, O&M costs, electricity cost and service life.

scholarly journals Integration of solid oxide fuel cell and internal combustion engine for maritime applications

2021 ◽  
Vol 281 ◽  
pp. 115854
Author(s):  
Harsh Sapra ◽  
Jelle Stam ◽  
Jeroen Reurings ◽  
Lindert van Biert ◽  
Wim van Sluijs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Internal Combustion Engine ◽  
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Solid Oxide ◽  
Oxide Fuel

System Analysis of a 100kW Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Hybrid Configuration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Colón Rodríguez ◽  
Nor Farida Harun ◽  
Nana Zhou ◽  
Edward Sabolsky ◽  
David Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Internal Combustion Engine ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Operating Temperature ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Solid Oxide ◽  
Oxide Fuel ◽  
Fuel Utilization ◽  
Fuel Cell Stack ◽  
Linear Behavior

Abstract Due to the intermittent nature of the renewable power plants and the rigid operation of existing plans, the need for flexible power production is eminent. Hybrid energy systems have shown potential for flexible power production capable to fulfill the power demands and maintain the efficiency. This work studies different design cases of a 100kW Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) hybrid system. Anode off-gas from the fuel cell stack provided the chemical energy to run the ICE. Heat management of the anode exhaust was considered to attain the operational limits of the ICE in the present configuration. A turbocharger was used to deliver the necessary air flow for both the fuel cell stack and the engine. A series of 25 design cases were chosen to analyze the performance and the potential flexibility of this cycle. The 25-design points resulted from a matrix composed of the variation of fuel utilization and reformer operating temperature, ranging from 70% to 90% and 600K to 1000K, respectively. At each design point, hardware was re-sized to match the desired conditions. The cycle performance and fuel cell distributed profiles are discussed in this paper. It is discovered that the system efficiency increases as the fuel utilization increases following a nearly linear behavior. The highest efficiency attained is 62% at a reformer operating temperature of 800K and a 90% fuel utilization. The minimum external fuel required to maintain turbocharger in operation decreases with the increase on the reformer temperature. Power contribution between ICE and SOFC follows a linear behavior closely overlapping each trend at different reforming operational temperatures. The impact of external reforming and internal on-anode reforming is also discussed. It is found that there is an optimal balance between the external and internal reforming. The optimal methane content in this work is shown to be around ∼18 vol%.

Flexible Coproduction of Hydrogen and Power Using Internal Reforming Solid Oxide Fuel Cells System

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kas Hemmes ◽  
Anish Patil ◽  
Nico Woudstra
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Cell System ◽  
Solid Oxide ◽  
Flow Sheet ◽  
Oxide Fuel ◽  
Internal Reforming ◽  
Wide Range

Within the framework of the Greening of Gas project, in which the feasibility of mixing hydrogen into the natural gas network in the Netherlands is studied, we are exploring alternative hydrogen production methods. Fuel cells are usually seen as the devices that convert hydrogen into power and heat. It is less well known that these electrochemical energy converters can produce hydrogen, or form an essential component in the systems for coproduction of hydrogen and power. In this paper, the coproduction of hydrogen-rich syngas (that can be converted into hydrogen) and power from natural gas in an internal reforming fuel cell is worked out by flow sheet calculations on an internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell system. The goal of this paper is to study the technical feasibility of such a system and explore its possibilities and limitations for a flexible coproduction. It is shown that the system can operate in a wide range of fuel utilization values at least down to 60% representing highest hydrogen production mode up to 95% corresponding to standard FC operation mode.

Performance Comparison of Internal and External Reforming for Hybrid SOFC-GT Applications by Using 1D Real-Time Fuel Cell Mode

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Chen ◽  
Chen Yang ◽  
Nana Zhou ◽  
Nor Farida Harun ◽  
David Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Hybrid System ◽  
Solid Oxide ◽  
Oxide Fuel ◽  
Fuel Utilization ◽  
Internal Reforming

Abstract Solid oxide fuel cells integrated with gas turbine (SOFC-GT) systems are considered among the most promising power generation units, not only because of the high efficiency, low emissions and carbon capture ability, but also the flexibility to use different kinds of fuels such as natural gas, syngas and biogas directly. In the case of natural gas, Previous researches have demonstrated that solid oxide fuel cells possess the ability to utilize natural gas directly by reforming it inside the anode because of the high operating temperature. But the major problem of internal reforming is that it increases the temperature gradient at the leading edge of fuel cell which may lead to high thermal stress and damage the cells. On the other side, external reforming requires an additional reformer outside of fuel cell, which may increase the investment costs. Also, the amount of air needed to cool the fuel cell is doubled, compared with internal reforming. A full comparison between internal reforming and external reforming of the pressurized SOFC is needed for the hybrids application. In this paper, a real time equilibrium reformer model based on minimization of Gibbs free energy was built to couple with 1D real time solid oxide fuel cell model. An internal on-anode reforming SOFC stack configuration for hybrid SOFC-GT system application was compared with external reforming configurations with 800K, 900K and 1000K reforming temperatures. The results show that internal reforming provides better performance of SOFC stack in the case of high fuel utilization. However, the external reforming showed a higher stack efficiency and smaller stack size compared with on-anode reforming when keeping a relatively lower SOFC stack fuel utilization, necessarily for high hybrid efficiency. Results indicated that external and internal reforming of fuel needs to be optimized depending on different design conditions of the entire hybrid system in terms of efficiency and investment cost. This paper shows that the hybrid system provides the opportunities for thermal integration on performance and efficiency improvement over fuel cell anode reforming.

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