Advanced Control for Clusters of SOFC/Gas Turbine Hybrid Systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iacopo Rossi ◽  
Valentina Zaccaria ◽  
Alberto Traverso
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Target System ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Advanced Control ◽  
Complex Target

The use of model predictive control (MPC) in advanced power systems can be advantageous in controlling highly coupled variables and optimizing system operations. Solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine (SOFC/GT) hybrids are an example where advanced control techniques can be effectively applied. For example, to manage load distribution among several identical generation units characterized by different temperature distributions due to different degradation paths of the fuel cell stacks. When implementing an MPC, a critical aspect is the trade-off between model accuracy and simplicity, the latter related to a fast computational time. In this work, a hybrid physical and numerical approach was used to reduce the number of states necessary to describe such complex target system. The reduced number of states in the model and the simple framework allow real-time performance and potential extension to a wide range of power plants for industrial application, at the expense of accuracy losses, discussed in the paper.

Advanced Control for Clusters of SOFC/GT Hybrid Systems

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iacopo Rossi ◽  
Valentina Zaccaria ◽  
Alberto Traverso
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Target System ◽  
Control Techniques ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Advanced Control ◽  
Complex Target

The use of model predictive control (MPC) in advanced power systems can be advantageous in controlling highly coupled variables and optimizing system operations. Solid oxide fuel cell/ gas turbine (SOFC/GT) hybrids are an example where advanced control techniques can be effectively applied. For example, to manage load distribution among several identical generation units characterized by different temperature distributions due to different degradation paths of the fuel cell stacks. When implementing a MPC, a critical aspect is the trade-off between model accuracy and simplicity, the latter related to a fast computational time. In this work, a hybrid physical and numerical approach was used to reduce the number of states necessary to describe such complex target system. The reduced number of states in the model and the simple framework allow real-time performance and potential extension to a wide range of power plants for industrial application, at the expense of accuracy losses, discussed in the paper.

Advances in Direct Fuel Cell/Gas Turbine Power Plants

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Ghezel-Ayagh ◽  
Joseph M. Daly ◽  
Zhao-Hui Wang
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Hybrid Power Systems ◽  
Fuel Cell Stack ◽  
T System

This paper summarizes the recent progress in the development of hybrid power systems based on Direct FuelCell/Turbine® (DFC/T®). The DFC/T system is capable of achieving efficiencies well in excess of state-of-the-art gas turbine combined cycle power plants but in much smaller size plants. The advances include the execution of proof-of-concept tests of a fuel cell stack integrated with a microturbine. The DFC/T design concept has also been extended to include the existing gas turbine technologies as well as more advanced ones. This paper presents the results of successful sub-MW proof-of-concept testing, sub-MW field demonstration plans, and parametric analysis of multi-MW DFC/T power plant cycle.

Experimental Test Facility for the Analysis of Transient Behavior of High Temperature Fuel Cell/Gas Turbine Hybrid Power Plants

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Taccani ◽  
Diego Micheli
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fluid Dynamic ◽  
Transient Behavior ◽  
Combustion Products ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Operational Conditions

Pressurized high temperature fuel cells and gas turbine integrated power systems are receiving growing attention as capable of reaching very high electrical conversion efficiency even in small size power plants. In this system the fuel and the oxidant (air) enter the cell after being compressed. The fuel oxidation reaction occurs predominantly within the fuel cell. The reaction is completed in a combustion chamber and the pressurized combustion products are exhausted through a turbine. The dynamic interdependences related to the integration of the fuel cell and the gas turbine are not completely understood and unexpected complications and dangers might arise. In fact as a consequence of both the relatively large volume of the pressurized portion of the plant and the shape of the stalled characteristic of available compressors, the plant could be affected by the inception of fluid-dynamic instabilities. In particular, surge could be detected in the transient off-design operational conditions occurring during plant regulation, start up and shut down. The paper presents a new experimental fuel cell gas turbine simulation facility that has been constructed at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Trieste, Italy. The facility was designed to examine the effects of transient events on the dynamics of these systems. The theoretical analysis of the plant is completed using a dynamic model of the system purposely developed.

Smart Grid Advanced Control Modules for Hybrid Fuel Cell/Gas Turbine Power Plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-290
Author(s):  
Michael D. Lukas ◽  
Hossein Ghezel-Ayagh
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Smart Grid ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Advanced Control ◽  
Control Modules

Development of Hybrid Power Systems Based on Direct Fuel Cell/Turbine Cycle

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Ghezel-Ayagh ◽  
Robert Sanderson ◽  
Jim Walzak
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Hybrid Systems ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Thermodynamic Cycle ◽  
Hybrid Power

FuelCell Energy Inc. (FCE) is developing ultra high efficiency Direct FuelCell/Turbine® (DFC/T®) hybrid power plants. Present activities are focused both on the demonstration of the DFC/T concept in small packaged hybrid power generation units for distributed generation, and the design of multi-megawatt (Multi-MW) hybrid systems for the wholesale electric power market. The development of Multi-MW DFC/T systems has been focused on the on the design of power plants with efficiencies approaching 75% (LHV of natural gas). The design efforts included thermodynamic cycle analysis of key gas turbine parameters such as compression ratio. The power plant designs were studied for near-term deployment utilizing the existing commercially available gas turbines and long-term deployment requiring advanced gas turbine technologies. A new fuel cell cluster concept was developed for mechanical design of Multi-MW systems. The concept utilizes the existing one-MW fuel cell modules as the building block for the Multi-MW hybrid systems.

Thermoacoustic Stability Analysis of a Full-Annular Lean Combustor for Heavy-Duty Applications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Pampaloni ◽  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Alessandro Marini ◽  
Giovanni Riccio ◽  
Gianni Ceccherini
Keyword(s):  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Flame Temperature ◽  
Numerical Procedure ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Heavy Duty ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
3D Fem ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract Thermoacoustic characterization of gas turbine combustion systems is of primary importance for successful development of gas turbine technology, to meet the stringent targets on pollutant emissions. In this context, it becomes more and more necessary to develop reliable tools to be used in the industrial design process. The dynamics of a lean-premixed full-annular combustor for heavy-duty applications has been numerically studied in this work. The well-established CFD-SI method has been used to investigate the flame response varying operational parameters such as the flame temperature (global equivalence ratio) and the fuel split between premixed and pilot fuel injections: such a wide range experimental characterization represents an opportunity to validate the employed numerical methods and to give a deeper insight into the flame dynamics. URANS simulations have been performed, due to their affordable computational costs from the industrial perspective, after validating their accuracy through the comparison against LES results. Furthermore, an approach where the pilot and the premixed flame responses are analyzed separately is proposed, exploiting the independence of their evolution. The calculated FTFs have been implemented in a 3D FEM model of the chamber, in order to perform linear stability analysis and to validate the numerical approach. A boundary condition for rotational periodicity based on Bloch-Wave theory has been implemented into the Helmholtz solver and validated against full-annular chamber simulations, allowing a significant reduction in computational time. The reliability of the numerical procedure has been assessed through the comparison against full-annular experimental results.

Assessment of the Potential of Combined Micro Gas Turbine and High Temperature Fuel Cell Systems

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Bohn ◽  
Nathalie Po¨ppe ◽  
Joachim Lepers
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Advanced Materials ◽  
Cell Systems ◽  
Micro Gas Turbine ◽  
Technological Assessment

The present paper reports a detailed technological assessment of two concepts of integrated micro gas turbine and high temperature (SOFC) fuel cell systems. The first concept is the coupling of micro gas turbines and fuel cells with heat exchangers, maximising availability of each component by the option for easy stand-alone operation. The second concept considers a direct coupling of both components and a pressurised operation of the fuel cell, yielding additional efficiency augmentation. Based on state-of-the-art technology of micro gas turbines and solid oxide fuel cells, the paper analyses effects of advanced cycle parameters based on future material improvements on the performance of 300–400 kW combined micro gas turbine and fuel cell power plants. Results show a major potential for future increase of net efficiencies of such power plants utilising advanced materials yet to be developed. For small sized plants under consideration, potential net efficiencies around 70% were determined. This implies possible power-to-heat-ratios around 9.1 being a basis for efficient utilisation of this technology in decentralised CHP applications.

scholarly journals Modeling of advanced fossil fuel power plants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farshid Zabihian
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Operating Pressure ◽  
Utilization Factor ◽  
Fuel Switching ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cycle Efficiency

The first part of this thesis deals with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel-fired power stations. The GHG emission estimation from fossil fuel power generation industry signifies that emissions from this industry can be significantly reduced by fuel switching and adaption of advanced power generation technologies. In the second part of the thesis, steady-state models of some of the advanced fossil fuel power generation technologies are presented. The impacts of various parameters on the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) overpotentials and outputs are investigated. The detail analyses of operation of the hybrid SOFC-gas turbine (GT) cycle when fuelled with methane and syngas demonstrate that the efficiencies of the cycles with and without anode exhaust recirculation are close, but the specific power of the former is much higher. The parametric analysis of the performance of the hybrid SOFC-GT cycle indicates that increasing the system operating pressure and SOFC operating temperature and fuel utilization factor improves cycle efficiency, but the effects of the increasing SOFC current density and turbine inlet temperature are not favourable. The analysis of the operation of the system when fuelled with a wide range of fuel types demonstrates that the hybrid SOFC-GT cycle efficiency can be between 59% and 75%, depending on the inlet fuel type. Then, the system performance is investigated when methane as a reference fuel is replaced with various species that can be found in the fuel, i.e., H₂, CO₂, CO, and N₂. The results point out that influence of various species can be significant and different for each case. The experimental and numerical analyses of a biodiesel fuelled micro gas turbine indicate that fuel switching from petrodiesel to biodiesel can influence operational parameters of the system. The modeling results of gas turbine-based power plants signify that relatively simple models can predict plant performance with acceptable accuracy. The unique feature of these models is that they are developed based on similar assumptions and run at similar conditions; therefore, their results can be compared. This work demonstrates that, although utilization of fossil fuels for power generation is inevitable, at least in the short- and mid-term future, it is possible and practical to carry out such utilization more efficiently and in an environmentally friendlier manner.

scholarly journals Coal Mine Methane Utilization in Gas Turbine Units for Electricity and Heat Production

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Кулаков ◽  
D. Kulakov ◽  
Щёголев ◽  
N. Shchegolev ◽  
Тумашев ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
Coal Mine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Ecological Situation ◽  
Modern Approach ◽  
Coal Mine Methane ◽  
Wide Range

Coal mining is accompanied by the release of coal mine methane. Its emissions into the atmosphere within methane-air mixture have a negative impact on the ecological situation. The modern approach involves the use of methane-air-mixture for heat boilers or units to generate electricity. For the generation of heat and electrical energy the coal mine methane could be used in cogeneration gas turbine plants with an altered sequence of processes. Thermo — and gas dynamics studies were conducted in a wide range of parameters of gas turbine plants. For small power plants recommended are: 2.8 compression ratio, turbine inlet — 1173 K, gas cooler inlet temperature — 303 K, 0.8 regeneration ratio. In this case the electrical efficiency of gas turbine plant is 25–26% and even 63–64% if produced heat is counted. Cogeneration gas turbine plant with an altered sequence of process has smaller capital and operating costs compared to traditional gas turbine unit. The use of methane-air mixture as fuel in such gas turbine units increases the profitability of coal mining and improves the ecological situation in the region.

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