Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of fuel cell based Combined Cycle Cogeneration plant

Power plants operating in combined cycle cogeneration configuration are becoming increasingly popular because of high energy conversion efficiency and reduced pollutant and green-house gas emissions. On the other hand, fuel cell technology continues to be of global interest because it can operate with very low to 0% green-house gas emission depending on the fuel. The aim of the present work is to investigate the effect of co-firing of natural gas with synthetic gas generated from coal gasification on the thermodynamic performance of an air blown coal gasification Combined Cycle Cogeneration unit with a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) arrangement. The effects of the operating temperature of the SOFC and the pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature of the gas turbine on the net work output and efficiency of the power cycles on the cogeneration unit are simulated. Simulations are also conducted on the thermal and cogeneration efficiencies of the individual power cycle as well as the overall plants respectively. The optimal pressure ratio, temperature of operation of the SOFC and, gas turbine inlet temperature was determined using a sequential quadratic program solver base on the Quasi-Newton algorithm.