Comparison of SOE/SOFC system configurations for a peak hydrogen power plant

A variant analysis of a potential configuration of a peak-load system which is based on SOE/SOFC module and hydrogen storage is presented in this article. The most rational configuration of the power plant with the SOE/SOFC appears to reach a high total electricity-to-electricity conversion rate with small and medium size plants. The system contains the minimum amount of devices where the anode side of the SOFC is exposed to the hydrogen storage directly. In this solution no compressors or pumps are needed and the system has no moving parts. Oxygen is then released to the surrounding environment or can be stored in an additional tank. In theory, it is possible to obtain higher efficiencies, but this requires much higher capital expenditures (additional heat exchangers, gas turbines, set of heat regeneration heat exchangers, etc.) and much higher parameters of working media in the system (1400  C, 30 bar). The absolute efficiency of the system depends on the assumptions made and the way in which the mathematical model was developed. It may change due to them, hence the presented analysis is qualitative rather than quantitative.