An efficient coupling system using a thermophotovoltaic cell to harvest the waste heat from a reforming solid oxide fuel cell

•The proposed system consists of a reforming SOFC and a thermophotovoltaic cell.•The maximum power density of the system is compared with that of a reforming SOFC.•The optimal selective criteria of key parameters are provided.•The system can efficiently harvest the waste heat from a reforming SOFC.•The present system is revealed to have advantages over other SOFC-based systems.

The coupling system proposed here is composed of a reforming solid oxide fuel cell (R-SOFC) and a thermophotovoltaic cell (TPVC), where the synthesis gases (CH4 and CO) replacing H2 is used as fuel. The performance characteristics of the coupling system and R-SOFC are evaluated and compared. The optimal regions of the coupling system are determined and the parametric selection criteria are provided. The maximum power output densities of the R-SOFC-TPVC and SOFC-TPVC systems operated at 973-1273 K are calculated and compared with those of other SOFC-based coupling systems. It is found that the SOFC-TPVC or R-SOFC-TPVC system has some obvious advantages.