Combined cycles of SOFC/ICE and SOFC/GT – A brief review.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are an emerging technology for production of electricity through processing of different fuels such as contemporary diesel or gasoline fuel, natural gas (NG) and hydrogen. SOFC are advantageous over other fuel cells due to their high efficiency (up to 65%), the usage of a cheap catalysts and the low requirements towards the purity of the fuel when hydrogen is utilized. Additionally, SOFC can be combined with an internal combustion engine (ICE) or a gas turbine (GT) to work in combined cycles. The heat engine (HE) utilizes the residual anode-off hydrocarbon-containing gases of the SOFC to guarantee even better efficiencies and higher versatility of the power system over standalone-SOFC and standalone-ICE layouts. Such combined systems can successfully be applied in stationary power or combined heat and power (CHP) generation for remote regions, or where the electricity from the grid is too expensive. They are also a promising concept in the transportation sector, particularly for heavy-duty transport means such as trains, trucks and airplanes. One of the greatest advantages of hybrid cycle systems is that they generate very low amounts of harmful gases, which makes them viable in the context of contemporary strict emission regulations. Namely the basics of the SOFC technology, its possible applications, and the approaches and possible layouts for building a combined cycle with an ICE or a GT, are reviewed. In the publication it is emphasized on the models' results in order to compare the effectiveness and feasibility of such a setup. The main differences of the systems caused by employment of a particular HE – ICE or GT, are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]