Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B (대한기계학회논문집B)

The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (대한기계학회)
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A Case Study of Different Configurations for the Performance Analysis of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with External Reformers

외부 개질형 평판형 고체 산화물 연료전지 시스템 구성법에 따른 효율특성

  • Received : 2011.11.09
  • Accepted : 2011.12.16
  • Published : 2012.03.01
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Abstract

A planar solid oxide fuel cell (PSOFC) is studied in its application in a high-temperature stationary power plant. Even though PSOFCs with external reformers are designed for application from the distributed power source to the central power plant, such PSOFCs may sacrifice more system efficiency than internally reformed SOFCs. In this study, modeling of the PSOFC with an external reformer was developed to analyze the feasibility of thermal energy utilization for the external reformer. The PSOFC system model includes the stack, reformer, burner, heat exchanger, blower, pump, PID controller, 3-way valve, reactor, mixer, and steam separator. The model was developed under the Matlab/Simulink environment with Thermolib$^{(R)}$ modules. The model was used to study the system performance according to its configuration. Three configurations of the SOFC system were selected for the comparison of the system performance. The system configuration considered the cathode recirculation, thermal sources for the external reformer, heat-up of operating gases, and condensate anode off-gas for the enhancement of the fuel concentration. The simulation results show that the magnitude of the electric efficiency of the PSOFC system for Case 2 is 12.13% higher than that for Case 1 (reference case), and the thermal efficiency of the PSOFC system for Case 3 is 76.12%, which is the highest of all the cases investigated.

본 연구에서는 외부 개질기에 열원을 공급하기 위한 시스템 내에 가용한 열에너지의 활용 및 확보에 대한 해석을 위해서 외부 개질기를 연계한 평판형 SOFC 시스템의 해석 모델을 구축하고자 한다. 이러한 해석을 위한 모델 구축을 위해 Matlab simulink$^{(R)}$ 기반의 ThermoLib module을 사용하였으며, 구축된 해석 모델을 통하여 시스템의 성능 향상을 위한 구성 기법에 대해서 연구를 하였다. 시스템 구성 방법은 기존 시스템의 layout을 바꾸기 위해 공기극 출구가스 재순환 및 외부개질기와 촉매연소기를 통합한 개질반응시스템 적용, 개질기에 공급되는 혼합연료의 예열, 연료극 출구가스의 응축을 통한 연료 농도 향상 등을 고려하였다. 시뮬레이션의 해석 결과에서는 SOFC 시스템에 있어서 일반 연소기를 적용한 기준 시스템에 비하여 촉매 연소기를 사용한 시스템의 전기 효율이 12.13% 향상되었으며, 연료극 출구 가스를 응축시켜 버너로 연소시킨 시스템에서는 열효율이 76.12%로 가장 높았다.

Keywords

References

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