Effects of operating and design parameters on the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell–gas turbine system

We present a steady-state thermodynamic model of a hybrid solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)–gas turbine (GT) cycle developed using a commercial process simulation software, AspenPlus™. The hybrid cycle model incorporates a zero-dimensional macro-level SOFC model. A parametric study was carried out using the developed model to study the effects of system pressure, SOFC operating temperature, turbine inlet temperature, steam-to-carbon ratio, SOFC fuel utilization factor, and GT isentropic efficiency on the specific work output and efficiency of a generic hybrid cycle with and without anode recirculation. The results show that system pressure and SOFC operating temperature increase the cycle efficiency regardless of the presence of anode recirculation. On the other hand, the specific work decreases with operating temperature. Overall, the model can successfully capture the complex performance trends observed in hybrid cycles.