Simulation and Economic Analyses of SOFC/GT Combined Heat and Power System in Residential Area (A case study of Iran)

The pressure for reducing impact on the environment of conventional energy conversion systems used for the power and heat generation is increasing. The major areas of concern are greenhouse gas emissions in conjunction with the possible depletion of fossil fuels. Fuel cells, as alternatives for conventional energy conversion systems, have the prospect for exploiting fossil fuels more benignly and efficiency. High temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are promised to be the most efficient device for direct conversion of fuel chemical energy into electricity. Its efficiency can be further increased when coupled with a gas turbine (GT) cycle up to ۷۰%. To provide the required energyfor a residential area, SOFC/GT combined cycle is analyzed from technical and economic points of view. Complete thermodynamic modeling is performed in this study. Energy and Economic analyses are carried out to evaluate the proposed system in five different climatic areas of Iran. The results show that electrical energy production with the considered system is economic and it seems to be more economic in future by developing fuel cell technology. Also complete economic results are presented.

Keywords:

SOFC/GT cycle , CHP system , Energy and Economic analysis