Evaluation of Sensitivity of a Micro-CHP Unit Performance to SOFC Parameters

Abstract

The work presents outcomes of a study of micro-CHP (Combined Heat and Power) unit with SOFCs (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells). Numerical simulator of the entire micro-CHP system was created, and characteristics of auxiliary equipment were implemented. Typically, micro-CHP system with solid oxide fuel cells is capable of achieving electrical efficiency of over 45% at the scale of 1-3 kWel. This is possible only when proper cells are selected for the stack. In the work eights planar fuel cells with different properties were included in the analysis. Numerical tool was used to predict performance of each of the cells in the operating conditions corresponding to the studied system. Simulations allowed performing sensitivity evaluation of the power unit to fuel cell properties. Results clearly show that different SOFC materials and type of support strongly influence system performance. Efficiency of the system ranges between 38-50% LHV-based depending on a cell.