Thermodynamic analysis of ITSOFC hybrid system for polygenerations

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is an energy conversion device that produces electricity directly from fossil fuels through electrochemical reactions. Intermediate and low temperature SOFCs (IT/LT, 300–800 °C SOFCs) are the main strains of the world SOFC R&D now. The exhaust gas of SOFC has high value in use. So SOFC is often integrated into a hybrid system with other power systems. Research shows that the electrical efficiency and the total efficiency of a hybrid system can be about 60% and 80% higher than an independent one. In this paper, the performance of intermediate temperature SOFC hybrid system was analyzed. Based on presenting a steady-state mathematical model of ITSOFC, the steady-state model of each designed system was presented. Results show that a hybrid system can achieve high efficiency. The results of this research can be useful in design and application for polygenerations integrated by SOFCs.